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What players will fill the leadership void on the Cleveland Indians for 2019? | Tribe needs leaders and talent for 2019 season CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The talent drain on the Indians has been immense this offseason. The same goes for leadership. It's funny how many of the departed Indians possessed both qualities, but that's how it usually works. A team's best players are usually its best leaders because this is a game measured by daily production. A leader on a baseball team doesn't need to pound his chest and scream and shout. That can be exhausting not only to the player, but those around him. All he needs to do is show up every day and do his job. It's hard to say how much the Indians are going to miss players such as Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes, Andrew Miller, Lonnie Chisenhall, Rajai Davis, Edwin Encarnacion, and Yonder Alonso. Hard to say because they can't be replaced. The latest loss came Friday when Cody Allen agreed to a one-year deal with the Angels. Allen, the franchise leader in saves, was the definition of a late-inning reliever. He was durable, never turned down the ball and always put the team first. From a reporter's standpoint he never ducked a tough question and was always at his locker after he pitched. It didn't matter if he saved a game or lost a lead, he was always there. If the Indians couldn't afford to match the Angels' one-year offer to keep Allen, it's hard to believe they're going to be able to fill the rest of the holes on this roster without a making a big trade. If you can't keep your franchise leader in saves on a one-year deal, ownership has definitely changed the combination on the vault set aside for baseball operations. Then again it was clear from the start of the offseason that the Indians were not going to keep keep any of their high-profile free agents. Brantley, Allen, Miller, Chisenhall and Josh Donaldson have all signed elsewhere. Outfielder Brandon Barnes is the only free agent to re-sign and he did so on a minor league deal. Talent is easy to spot. Right now the Indians are loaded at one position -- starting pitching. The rest of the roster looks like a rusted out Chevy in front of a crumbling farm house. There are a few pieces of chrome that reflect a ray of sunshine, but the rest consists of chipped paint and mud. Leadership is harder to spot. Recently Mike Clevinger, who reached 200 innings and 200 strikeouts for the first time last year, was asked who would be the new leaders on the Indians. He pointed to Francisco Lindor, the All-Star shortstop. Clevinger said he talked to Lindor after the Indians lost Game 1 of the ALDS to Houston in October. He didn't like the vibe in the clubhouse and suggested Lindor say something. Lindor did before Game 2. It didn't matter. Churchill could have talked to the Indians and they still would have been rolled by the Astros in three games. It's not a surprise that Lindor would emerge as a leader in the wake of so much loss. Talent drips off him. The guy who made the suggestion is another story. Rarely does leadership come barging through the door. It comes through the team itself, and the players with enough feel to absorb what has been left behind by those who have come and gone before them. In a winter where so much has been lost, and so little gained, that is a bright spot. | https://www.cleveland.com/expo/sports/g66l-2019/01/ff73e4ad8e9112/what-players-will-fill-the-leadership-void-on-the-cleveland-indians-for-2019.html |
Whats on Bielsas bucket list... and did Ipswich release a promise or a threat? | Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa telling the world what he wanted it to know Picture: PA PA Wire In his weekly column, CHRIS LAKEY ponders the belittling of Championship clubs by Marcelo Bielsa... and the double-edged sword that is Ipswich Towns come what may statement Share Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in. The man with a bucket, at Carrow Road Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd The man with a bucket, at Carrow Road Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd Confucius said, dont trust man who sits on bucket to watch football. And then he added: And dont trust coach who stands behind fence either. Frankly, I would probably have more joy trying to understand the Chinese philosophers deeper stuff than what Marcelo Bielsa was trying to achieve when he explained, at a bizarre press conference this week, how he researches his opponents before games. That research includes, as the world now knows, spying. Its not cloak and dagger, more pliers and binoculars. Which, despite his show of innocence, makes it unpleasant. The Leeds manager, whose love of a bit of subterfuge was exposed a week ago ahead of a Friday night clash against Derby when a member of his staff was caught snooping on Frank Lampards training session, called the media to Leeds training ground to explain all. What he proceeded to do was wow a bunch of people, many of a Leeds leaning anyway, that he was English footballs coaching supremo, a man who had just owned the game in this country because of the extensive and wide-ranging approach to match preparation, an attention to detail which no other manager came close to achieving. All he was doing was his job. The message was: This is normal for me. Best make one thing clear here: I doubt there is a journalist or fan in the land who knows the full extent of their club managers work. If Daniel Farke invited me to watch how he prepares for a game I guarantee I would be gobsmacked. Every manager in the country could do it and the reaction would be the same. Except to fellow managers. Bielsa was simply revealing to the media what other managers would undoubtedly regard as the norm. As Alex Neil, once of these parts, said: It does amaze me that everyones saying its a masterclass. Every single team in this division will be doing analysis. Every single team will have watched the opposition, every single team will have dossiers drawn up on players, fixtures, team line-ups. Thats pretty par for the course. Whats happened is that the general public, and some of the media, think we turn up and play five-a-side and go home and then when they do get a wee taster of what we actually do day-to-day and get exposed to it, its ground-breaking. Bielsa has just baffled people with the smelly stuff. Bielsa prepares for a game shock. If he didnt he wouldnt be managing a top club like Leeds United. The ones who dont prepare are the ones who dont succeed. Bielsa was trying to worm himself out of a tight hole with a mixture of ignorance and arrogance. The other thing about Bielsas media briefing is that it stunk of belittling the other Championship clubs. He admitted he had spied on them all, he doesnt apologise for it, and the inference was if you worked as hard as we do, youd probably be as good as us. He showed fellow managers little respect. Thats not against the rules it goes on every day in out footballing calendar but he shouldnt preach to everyone else in a holier than thou manner. I like watching Bielsas Leeds side, I tipped them for the play-offs and I hope they are promoted, because I think they deserve to be. But I can do without their manager trying to flash his Coaching Mastercard in our faces. Leeds fans, I am sure, will hear nothing against him. If Daniel Farke had come out and said he too had spied on rivals, I suspect Norwich fans would have been understanding and rather quieter than some are about Bielsa. I suspect we wont get definitive answers and that the case will end up gathering dust in a filing cabinet at Football League HQ. If it does, I know a man whod be able to liberate it... Town and out... I know Ipswich Town fans are desperate for something to cheer about thats a fact, not a jibe from across the border. Times are tough when your team is bottom of the table: been there, seen it, got the T-shirt. And when its like that some fans want something positive to brighten up their lives and give them renewed hope. Others, of courser, like to wallow in self pity... Anyway, Ipswich have released a joint statement this week from owner and manager saying the latter will stay on, whatever position they find themselves in at the end of the season. That might be the sort of thing that fires your loins, but not mine... Town are four points adrift at the bottom of the Championship. The new (ish) manager has had 12 league games in charge. He won the seventh game and the 12th game (a week after losing at Accrington in the FA Cup), but has also lost seven league games. Winning your last game after three league defeats in a row is not a sign he has turned things around. They may be currying favour with the fans by sending an open letter telling them how wonderful they are, but that wont keep Town in the Championship. Form, not popularity, counts. At this rate, Town will go down. Another manager might save them. Another manager might do better in League One, should they be there. Releasing a statement in the name of an unpopular owner and a manager with two wins in 12 saying, come what may, it will be the same people in charge next season, may be a fillip to some, but it is arguably a curse to others. The derby is three weeks away and I suspect Ipswich will milk this one for everything they can: expect the management to call on Towns travelling supporters to lift the team and make this a massive one-off game. Win it and even if they go down they will go down shouting the odds. I have no doubt whatsoever Town fans will shout the roof down at their end of the stand, because thats what they do. But that management policy is just shifting responsibility. Ive seen it before. | https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/chris-lakey-on-bielsa-1-5857395 |
Have security fears forced Harry and Meghan to quit their Cotswolds hideaway before their baby is born? | Get Daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Prince Harry and his pregnant wife Meghan are to give up their weekend Cotswolds bolthole just before the arrival of their first baby because of security fears, according to the latest reports. Royal fans hoping to catch a glimpse of Meghan pushing a pram through Stow-on-the-Wold or the couple shopping in Bourton will be disappointed by the latest news. According to the Daily Mail have the couple will give up the two year lease early in March, a month before Meghan is expected to give birth. And one suggestion is it could all be down to fears over the royals security at the country estate where David and Victoria Beckham are said to have been targeted by traveller gangs. Until now the couple had been expected to retain the two year lease on the 2.5million former farmhouse on the Gloucestershire borders after they moved from London to Windsor this spring. But now it appears they plan to move out of the quintessential country estate between Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire which has become such a magnet for the rich and famous it has been dubbed Poshfordshire. (Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo) There are conflicting reports on why they are moving out, with some suggesting they are struggling to afford the cost of running two homes. But other sources have told the Daily Mail that parents to be Harry, 34, and Meghan, 37, have been forced to leave because of security concerns for their family. Near neighbours, Victoria and David Beckham recently suffered two attempted break-ins at 6 million mansion on the same estate. Police believe a West Country gang that has been linked to murders, extortion and drug dealing over the past 30 years are prime suspects in the raids which have forced David, 43, and Victoria, 44, to fortify their family home. Security at the country estate is not as tight as it is at official royal residences such as Windsor or Sandringham, sources told the Daily Mail. (Image: Richard Simpson) Whatever the reason, it will be a wrench for the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk to let go of the Cotswolds hideaway where they escaped during the pressured run-up to their Windsor wedding las year.. Although they live at Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace during the week, they are said to still spend most weekends in the Cotswolds and Meghan is said to have been particularly taken with the pretty hamlet which is packed with the rich and famous. As well as containing happy memories, it is close to the Soho Farmhouse country club which attracts many of their friends. (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror) But at least they will still will be able to enjoy a slice of rural life because Frogmore Cottage is undergoing massive renovations to ensure that the family has a "comfortable country life". One source told the Daily Mail that the building works on Frogmore Cottage are expected to cost up to 3million and although taxpayers will foot most of the bill, the couple will have pay for all the fixtures and fittings themselves. And if that's not rural enough for them, there will be plenty of room at grandad's place at Highgrove House as Prince Charles increasingly takes on more royal duties requiring him to spend more time in London. What's more, they don't have to worry about the baby coming early on visits to Highgrove because it's just down the road from Stroud Maternity Hospital where fellow royal Zara gave birth. | https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/celebs-tv/traveller-gang-fears-forced-harry-2446707 |
Can Britains butchers survive the vegan boom? | Beleaguered by the rise of meat-free lifestyles and the decline of the high street, some in the trade are fighting back What a time to be a butcher. With Veganuary in full swing and scientists delivering an onslaught of post-Christmas advice about the perils of meat eating, butchers are under pressure from all sides, caught in the cleft of consumer demands for better quality food at ever cheaper prices. Take Robert Byford. A year ago, his shop in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, was one of four serving a population that was enthusiastic about steak and bacon. Now Byford Food Hall is the last one standing. Where we are, three butchers have closed in the last 12 months, Byford said, ticking them off: One in Rayleigh is up for sale, another in Leigh has shut and theres a third gone from Southend. They might sell it, but it seems unlikely. I think well see more and more of this happening, just like the bakers and the fishmongers. Britain had about 15,000 butchers shops in 1990, a number that declined rapidly during the BSE crisis in the following decade and the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2001. By 2010 there were just 6,380, according to the Office for National Statistics, and now there are 5,830. About 100 shops a year are closing down without being replaced. That decline may be speeding up again, and it certainly isnt hindered by dietary advice such as that issued last week in the Lancet, by scientists suggesting people reduce their weekly red meat intake by 50%. In November, Crawshaws, a chain of Midlands butchers, announced it was shutting 39 stores and went into administration to save the remaining 19. A month earlier Bristol lost JD Brittan, which opened in 1814 and served soldiers returning from the Napoleonic wars. Other losses include CD Field in Sedgley, West Midlands, gone after 116 years, Ron Reddy in Blackpool after 50 years and MS King in Bournemouth after 54 years. Everyone has a different explanation. Some blame vegans Pat Jenkins, a butcher of 60 years standing, thinks anti-meat publicity will see the end of her family-run shop in Bournemouth. Miranda Ballard agrees her Muddy Boots chain of five premium butchers in London shut down just over a year ago. Vegetarianism was definitely part of it, she said. I was a big fan of meat-free Mondays, because I wanted people to buy better meat less often. We thought people wanted what they say they wanted, which is to pay more for great quality meat, but in the end their decisions are really about price and convenience. Every single time we opened a new shop, someone would come in and say Id forgotten what good meat tastes like. That was great to hear, but it should have rung alarm bells for me. If people had forgotten, they werent going to come out of the supermarket to us. Facebook Twitter Pinterest A queue forms outside Hill & Szrok meat shop in Hackney, London its a restaurant in the evenings. Photograph: Jenny Matthews/Alamy Others point to the familiar problems that beset the high street: rising rents, power bills and business rates, staff costs, the growing influence of the discounters Aldi and Lidl and the dominance of supermarkets. People dont have the money, said Asif Khan, who has worked at Pak Butchers in Walthamstow for five years. In the last year people have started crying about the price. They never did that three or four years ago. They import meat from Holland and other parts of Europe. Prices have gone up. Its Brexit. Perhaps the most worrying sign for the trade is the ageing profile of independent butchers. A survey by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Boards (AHDB) beef and lamb division in 2015 showed that 75% of butchers had been working for more than 20 years. Often what happens is someone wants to retire, their family dont want to take it on and the shop shuts, Robert Byford said. Fortunately, were still going strong and my sons involved in the business so when I retire hell take it on. Like many remaining butchers, Byford has moved away from tripe and offal to offer a touch of luxury. You cant beat the supermarkets on price, he said. We go for the quality end of the market. We do homemade pies. We cure our own bacon and smoke it in the shop. On Sundays we cook peoples joints for them, so they can go shopping and pick up their dinner on the way home. We need to remind people that meat has a lot of minerals and nutrients that its hard to get elsewhere Matt Southam, AHDB The butcher-bistro is increasingly popular. Hill & Szrok in Hackney, London, is a butchers during the day and a restaurant at night, while Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge created the Butchers Tap pub in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, with beef chillers turned into displays in the pub windows. The butchers that are left now are the good ones, the ones that fit with new consumer demands, said Matt Southam of the AHDB. Theres a lot of butchers doing rare breeds that you cant get in a supermarket. Were seeing a bigger link with farm shops too. Its about connecting the supply chain from the farm gate to your plate. Despite the decline in butchers shops, the meat industry is still healthy, the AHDB says. While meat consumption has dropped by about 5% since 1995, last year saw a slight rise, with Britons spending 18.3bn. Those buying new vegan products such as bleeding burgers and faux fish and chips tend to be meat eaters. When you get down to the pure numbers of people that are vegan, the numbers are very, very small, Southam said. (The Vegan Society said in 2018 there are 600,000 vegans in the UK, just above 1% of the population; however, their numbers are growing.) What is having an effect is flexitarianism those making a reduction, maybe one less meal a fortnight or one less meal a month. We just need to remind people that meat has minerals and nutrients that its hard to get elsewhere and its part of a healthy, balanced diet. | https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/19/can-britains-butchers-survive-vegan-boom |
Which crop was most profitable in 2017? | Fodder beet was the crop with the biggest net margin in the 2017 Teagasc Tillage E-profit Monitor. It had a net margin which was more than double that of the crop with the second highest net margin winter oilseed rape. The net margin of a spring feed barley crop the most popular tillage crop in the country is just 25% that of fodder beet. Crops in order of the highest net margin: Fodder beet; Winter oilseed rape; Winter wheat; Winter barley; Spring malting barley; Spring wheat and spring beans (including protein payment); Spring oats; Spring feed barley; Winter oats; Spring oilseed rape. Fodder beet had the highest gross output of all crops and in turn had the highest gross and net margins. However, this was not always the case. Winter wheat had the second highest gross output, but high costs reduced it to the third highest net margin. Advertisement Despite having a gross output of 3/ha lower than winter oilseed rape at 1,742/ha, winter barley had a gross margin of 408/ha, compared to oilseed rapes 511/ha. The average yield of beet crops from the 43 farms growing the crop in the E-Profit Monitor analysis was 78.5t/ha, while the average price paid was 38/t. Input and machinery costs were significantly higher than all other crops, yet it was still the most profitable crop on the list. | https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/which-crop-was-most-profitable-in-2017/ |
Can My Landlord Charge Me for My Broken Fridge? | Q: I live in a market-rate rental on the Upper West Side. My refrigerator has broken several times over the past few months, despite repeat visits from repairmen. Weve had to throw out spoiled food and devote too much money to takeout. We asked the landlord for a new fridge, but he refuses to replace it unless we agree to a $17-a-month rent increase for the remainder of the lease. He claims that New York City law requires tenants to pay for new appliances. A: There is no city law requiring tenants to pay for new appliances if their old ones break. On the contrary, the warranty of habitability, a state law, requires your landlord to provide you with a safe, livable and clean apartment, which would include a functioning refrigerator. So he must either fix your broken one or replace it with one that works. The replacement does not need to be new, but it must be similar or better than the one you had before. Unless your lease states otherwise, your landlord cannot charge you for this. It is his responsibility. He may be referring to the states rent stabilization code, which allows a landlord to pass the cost of apartment improvements onto a rent-stabilized tenant as a rent increase if the tenant gives written consent, according to Peter A. Schwartz, head of the real estate practice at the Manhattan law firm Graubard Miller. But since your lease is market rate, the rule does not apply to you. (And even if your apartment were stabilized, you would still have to consent in writing to a rent increase.) | https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/19/realestate/can-my-landlord-charge-me-for-my-broken-fridge.html |
Has the Queen Ever Eaten Pizza? | Every Friday morning, Bon Apptit senior staff writer Alex Beggs shares weekly highlights from the BA offices, from awesome new recipes to office drama to restaurant recs, with some weird (food!) stuff she saw on the internet thrown in. It gets better: If you sign up for our newsletter , you'll get this letter before everyone else. Duchess of Pepperoni Im not going to get into hamberders at this point in the week. There are (actually ) 2.7 million other places you can seethe and salivate over that one. The biggest food news for me this week was KATE MIDDLETON MAKING PIZZA with ADORABLE CHILDREN. Not nearly enough fanfare for this. Oh wait. (38,400,000 results .) When a kiddo asked if the Queens ever had pizza, the Duchess replied: You know, thats such a good question. I dont know. Maybe next time I see her, shall I ask? YES, PLEASE ASK. A million royal bloggers across the world pondered this historic question. No one had answers. In fact, I believe this is what you call Small Talk, but no matter, its the Duchess of Pepperoni, and it gets us one step closer to Royal Secrets REVEALED! Peter Morgan, get your research team on this! I need this addressed in the next season of The Crown more than I need anything else, other than ibuprofen and a Diet Coke, right now. When you really love black pepper Wee-ooo, wee-ooo! THE PEPPER POLICE. On Basically this week, Molly Baz wrote about how salt and black pepper work in a dish, daring to suggest pepper isnt as big of a deal as salting. The headline alone provoked over 1,000 Facebooks comments. My favorite were about the pepper police, which I might add, are a volunteer police department, subsidized by the passion in their hearts for public pepper safety. Spice shaming? Katie double checked her notes and declared it the Dumbest argument ever. Leah time traveled in from 1867 and dropped the word Poppycock! David, who can't resist us, said: this is why I cancelled a subscription years ago. While multiple living readers shared the sentiment: How bout dont tell me how to live, you should really mind your own business. And then we all went on our ways, salting and peppering to our hearts discontent. I ...kinda want this on a t-shirt: Here we go Photo by Chelsie Craig My Trader Joes reviews for 2019 have begun. NO, I havent been able to find the pancake bread yet. The jackfruit cakes are strange celery-salt patties, chewy, but interesting. The best new thing I tried this week: gluten-free toffee cookies. Heavy on the salt, in a good way. FOR CRUNCHY COOKIE LOVERS ONLY. No softies. Sign up for our newsletter ! BYO-crab rangoon Alyse Whitney, a karaoke queen and the biggest pop culture fiend on staff, left us this week to go to Every Day with Rachael Ray. Alyse, thank you for introducing me to the Scrub Daddy and the best damn seaweed snacks on the market. But Alyse, curse you for making me go to one of my biggest social anxiety-fueled nightmares: karaoke. Also, Alyse had to produce and CODE this newsletter, which is a technical, tricky job on an outdated program. Congrats, Alyse! Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Kate Buckens Cook this, why dontcha We were so psyched to have nacho expert Rick Martinez back in the Test Kitchen to develop this Super Bowl nacho recipe. The chile-chicken topping (made with rotisserie chicken, no sweat! ), is so good I plan on making it on its own for hashtag meal prep. After the recipe was cross-tested for quality control (seriously), the tray sat on a stove getting cold and soggy. But I watched as bite by bite, hour by hour, people ate every last cold nacho. Its THAT good. Unnecessary food meme of the week Unnecessary food feud of the week Alex Lau In honor of our 200th podcast episode , Rice 3.0 (if you havent heard rice episodes 1 and 2, I highly recommend it; youll laugh out loud in your car), were debating: RICE. PUDDING. The comfort food that we should all be making the next snow day. Kozy Shack, love it! A really extra chewy rice like Arborio then he made this guttural oomph! noise. Coconut milk, cinnamon, vanilla, a little lemon peel another Oooh! But Julia Kramer is horrified at the thought. Rice pudding is the most disgusting dessert of all time. First of all, its borderline savory, second, do you want to eat oatmeal for dessert? Rice has a bounce that oats dont have, JULIA. Its wet sand, she concluded. The texture is Meryl Rothstein then made a face that looked like shed just sniffed a dirty diaper. Put that in front of me and Ill inhale it, said Amiel Stanek. Adam Rapoport reported from his Mystery Location Out of Office to comment: Yuck. I guess I wont be pitching any 15-page rice pudding features anytime soon. Make it! Carolina Rice Pudding Little grains of sadness, Alex Beggs Senior Staff Writer | https://www.bonappetit.com/story/has-the-queen-ever-eaten-pizza |
How many EU citizens in Derby will have to apply to stay in the UK? | Get Daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Thousands of European Union citizens living in Derby will have to apply to the EU settlement scheme to remain in the UK. Following the Brexit referendum result the government announced that all EU citizens - even if married to a British citizen - would have to apply to carry on living and working in the UK beyond 30 June 2021. But commentators have said that the settlement scheme is sending a message to EU citizens that their contributions to the UK are meaningless. There are currently 257,000 people living in Derby of which 16,000 are EU citizens, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. All 16,000 will have to apply for either settled or pre-settled status under the rules of the scheme unless they are Irish citizens or have indefinite leave to remain in the country. A significant number are likely to be Irish and therefore exempt. Indefinite leave to remain is a type of immigration status that means a person can carrying on living in the UK without applying to the EU settlement scheme - though they can apply if they want to. People applying for settled status will need to prove they have lived in the UK for at least six months in any 12 month period over a total of five years. If their settled status is granted, they will be able to stay and work in the UK for as long as they like, use the NHS, access benefits and pensions, and travel in and out of the country. A person given pre-settled status will be allowed to remain in the UK for a further five years. After the five years, the person can apply to change their status to permanent. There are also 781,000 people living in Derbyshire, of which 21,000 are EU citizens. There is a cost for applying for settled status, too. All applicants aged 16 and over will have to pay 65, though that drops to 32.50 for applicants aged under 16. Maike Bohn, director of communications at The Three Million, a forum for EU citizens living in the UK, said: Vote Leave said the new status would be automatic. Now EU citizens are faced with a system that forces them to apply and to pay to stay. In addition, this system is built for people with perfect digital tax records, and we are very concerned about EU citizens who don't fit this stereotype and haven't got a seamless record. The message this sends to EU citizens is that the contributions they have made over the last decades are meaningless. Having to reapply, proving their worth yet again, for something they already lawfully had. The Home Office ran the first pilot settlement scheme with NHS and universities in 2018. The second pilot stage opens on 21 January, ahead of the schemes official launch by the end of March this year. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now Under the Withdrawal Agreement the final deadline for applying will be 30 June 2021. Caroline Nokes, immigration minister, said: Securing the rights of EU citizens living in the UK has always been our priority. We are well on track to deliver a system that will make it easy and straightforward for them to obtain status once we have left the EU and continue to live their lives much as they do now. This is a completely voluntary test phase, which will give us valuable insight into how the system works and if any changes need to be made before the full launch. Related articles: | https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/derby-news/how-many-eu-citizens-derby-2435269 |
How much can Kenneth Faried help James Harden and the Rockets? | ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported late Friday that the Houston Rockets are expected to add big man Kenneth Faried, who has reached a buyout with the Brooklyn Nets, according to sources. Let's take a look at whether Faried makes sense for the Rockets. Since Capela suffered the thumb sprain that's expected to sideline him through the All-Star break, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni has played the team's three healthy centers ( Marquese Chriss, Isaiah Hartenstein and Nene) a combined 51 of 101 minutes, meaning Houston has played nearly half the time without one. Smaller lineups with P.J. Tucker and rookie Gary Clark in the middle have filled the other minutes. Clearly, then, the Rockets could use a better center option. It's just not immediately clear that Faried qualifies. After all, he's played just 118 minutes all season, the reason the Nets were willing to buy him out despite being in the midst of a playoff push. And past attempts by Brooklyn and the Denver Nuggets to use Faried at center were unsuccessful. According to Cleaning the Glass, lineups with Faried in the middle have been outscored by at least 7.1 points per 100 possessions each of the past four seasons. Houston is surely counting on Faried fitting better in D'Antoni's system, which emphasizes athleticism rather than size for 5-men. Working as a screener for James Harden, Faried will be asked to rim run and catch lobs like Capela, and that's something he can do. According to Second Spectrum tracking, Faried's 151 shot attempts on lobs rank 20th in the NBA since 2013-14. By contrast, the ground-bound Nene has just 16 shots on lobs in that span. When opponents switch his screens for Harden, the Rockets will task Faried with taking smaller opponents to the offensive glass. Faried has ranked in the NBA's top 10 in offensive rebound percentage three times in his career, per Basketball-Reference.com, and his 13.8 percent career offensive rebound percentage ranks sixth among players with at least 5,000 minutes over the past decade -- two spots behind Capela. Because of his limited shooting range, Faried has always been better cast offensively as a center. The problems come at the defensive end of the floor, where Faried's instincts are to fly around the court rather than protect the rim. Among the 116 big men who have defended at least 500 shots in the restricted area since 2013-14, Second Spectrum data ranks Faried 88th in opponent shooting percentage (65.1 percent). Instead of parking Faried in the paint, Houston will likely have him switch screens and rely on his athleticism to keep up with smaller guards. Unfortunately, the results when Faried has switched haven't been better. They've actually been worse. Again, going back to 2013-14, opponents have averaged 1.03 points per chance on picks switched by Faried, according to Second Spectrum tracking. That ranks 143rd of the 147 players who have switched at least 250 picks in that span. On the plus side, Faried will have a better scheme and defenders around him when he switches. Still, he's going to have to be effective defensively, either on the perimeter or in the paint, to justify staying on the court. Otherwise, D'Antoni will go back to small ball even with another option in the middle. | https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/kenneth-faried-james-harden-rockets/story?id=60490359 |
Why Is Neogen (NEOG) Up 9.4% Since Last Earnings Report? | Neogen (NEOG) reported earnings 30 days ago. We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues. It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Neogen (NEOG). Shares have added about 9.4% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. Neogen Sees Q2 Revenue Growth on Strong Food Safety Business Neogen reported earnings per share (EPS) of 31 cents in the second quarter of fiscal 2019. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents. However, EPS declined 6.1% from the year-ago quarter. Revenues increased 4.6% on a year-over-year basis to $107.1 million, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $109 million by 1.7%. Per Neogen, growing revenues from key food safety products, including tests for foodborne pathogens and sanitation, contributed to the top line. The company also witnessed strength in the natural toxin product lines. Also, continued growth in the companys global animal genomics business boosted the top line. Revenues in Detail Food Safety Segment: Revenues at the segment totaled $53.8 million, up 9.3% on solid overall organic growth. Sales of the foodborne pathogen detection tests, like Listeria and Salmonella, rose 24% year over year in the reported quarter. Revenues also included contribution from Neogens Listeria Right Now test system. The company also witnessed a 20% rise in sales of general microbiology tests, which include tests to detect spoilage and indicator microorganisms (for instance yeasts and molds) in food and other consumer products. Animal Safety Segment: The segment recorded revenues of $53.3 million, reflecting a 3.5% rise from the year-ago quarter. Strength in the global biosecurity products, including a 22% rise in sales of agricultural insecticides and a 15% increase in Preserve disinfectants sales led the upside. The worldwide genomics business unit recorded an 8% increase in the reported quarter. Per management, this growth is partly attributable to the September 2017 buyout of the University of Queensland Animal Genetics Laboratory in Australia. Also, the upside is backed by robust revenues from the companys beef genomics business, both for beef breed associations and commercial producers. Fresh estimates followed a downward path over the past two months. VGM Scores At this time, Neogen has a subpar Growth Score of D, though it is lagging a bit on the Momentum Score front with an F. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of D on the value side, putting it in the bottom 40% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of F. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Outlook Neogen has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/why-neogen-neog-9-4-143002357.html |
Why Is BlackBerry (BB) Up 4.1% Since Last Earnings Report? | It has been about a month since the last earnings report for BlackBerry (BB). Shares have added about 4.1% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important catalysts. BlackBerry Q3 Earnings Top Estimates on Lower Expenses BlackBerry reported healthy third-quarter fiscal 2019 (ended Nov 30, 2018) financial results, primarily driven by growth in software and services business, and lower operating expenses. Net Loss On a GAAP basis, net loss for the reported quarter was 1 cent per share compared with a loss of 52 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The year-over-year improvement was mainly due to lower total operating expenses. Non-GAAP net income came in at $28 million or 5 cents per share compared with $16 million or 3 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted earnings for the quarter were 3 cents per share which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 2 cents. Revenues Quarterly GAAP revenues remained stable year over year at $226 million. Software and services revenues were $217 million, up 14.2%. Non-GAAP revenues were $228 million compared with $235 million in the year-earlier quarter. The top line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $213 million. Geographically, North America generated revenues of $151 million compared with $133 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenues from Europe, Middle East and Africa were $56 million, down 18.8% year over year, while revenues from other regions totaled $19 million, down 20.8%. Segmental Performance Non-GAAP revenues from Enterprise software and services decreased 7.5% year over year to $98 million. BlackBerry Technology Solutions non-GAAP revenues increased 23.3% to $53 million, primarily driven by BlackBerry QNX. Software development license, services and royalty revenues have grown double-digit percentage across various applications in the automotive and general embedded market, underscoring an increase in the number of design wins as the company was chosen by customers from around the world. Non-GAAP revenues from Licensing, IP and other were $68 million, up 36% year over year. The company did not generate any non-GAAP revenues from Handheld devices in the reported quarter, while generating $9 million in the year-earlier quarter. SAF (service access fees) non-GAAP revenues continued its downtrend and decreased to $9 million from $27 million in the year-earlier quarter. Other Quarterly Details Gross profit was $170 million or 75.2% of revenues compared with $168 million or 74.3% of revenues in the year-ago quarter. Total operating expenses decreased to $112 million from $426 million reported in the prior-year quarter. This was primarily due to lower arbitration charges, selling, marketing and administration expenses, and favorable adjustment of debentures fair value. Operating income improved to $58 million against operating loss of $258 million in the prior-year quarter, mainly due to lower operating expenses. Non-GAAP operating income was $27 million compared with $16 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted EBITDA was $44 million compared with $35 million in the prior-year quarter. During the quarter, BlackBerry has inked an agreement to acquire Cylance, an artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity leader. The buyout will help to boost the companys future software and services business growth as it will provide additional cyber security capabilities with advanced AI and machine learning technology. Cash Flow During the first nine months of fiscal 2019, BlackBerry generated $82 million of cash from operations compared with $866 million in the year-ago period. In the fiscal third quarter, free cash flow before considering the impact of restructuring and legal proceedings was $39 million. Liquidity As of Nov 30, 2018, BlackBerry had $1,084 million of cash and cash equivalents and $665 million of long-term debt. The companys total cash, cash equivalents, short-term and long-term investments were $2.4 billion as of the same day. Fiscal 2019 Outlook BlackBerry has reiterated its outlook for fiscal 2019. The company continues to expect total software and services revenue growth to be in the range of 8-10% year over year. It expects total software and services billings growth to be in double-digits. The company anticipates non-GAAP earnings per share to be positive. Free cash flow for the full fiscal is also expected to be positive. Fresh estimates followed a downward path over the past two months. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report BlackBerry Limited (BB) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research | https://news.yahoo.com/why-blackberry-bb-4-1-143002417.html |
Is Illinois Tool Works a Buy? | That's the question that faces investors and potential investors in Illinois Tool Works (NYSE: ITW). Unlike shares of a peer such as 3M Company (NYSE: MMM), there's still a strong case to be made for buying Illinois Tool Works' stock. Here it is. Illinois Tool Works has near-term headwinds Along with much of the industrial sector, the stock was sold off aggressively in 2018 on fears of an upcoming cyclical slowdown in the economy. Moreover, it was a particularly brutal year for companies with significant exposure to the automotive industry, given that U.S. light vehicle sales looked like they'd passed cyclical peak, and end-market conditions are likely to get worse in 2019. For reference, Illinois Tool Works' automotive OEM (original equipment manufacturer) segment generated more than one-fifth of operating income in the first nine months of 2018: ITW Chart More ITW data by YCharts. Moreover, if prices for commodities (particularly oil) remain relatively low, then some of the company's businesses with exposure to heavy industries (such as welding, and test and measurement) are likely to come under pressure. Throw in any negative impact from the China-U.S. trade dispute, and it's clear that the company faces some cyclical risk in 2019. As a consequence, analysts have been downgrading the stock. Clearly, there are question marks around the company's prospects in 2019, but there are two reasons why the stock is still attractive. Illinois Tool Works stock looks like a good value First, the company's valuation gives it a significant margin of safety to deal with any disappointment. For example, the chart below shows how its price-to-FCF (free cash flow) valuation started to drop significantly as FCF improved and the stock price dropped in 2018. In contrast, 3M is looking expensive, even as it faces many of the same cyclical headwinds as Illinois Tool Works: ITW Price to Free Cash Flow (TTM) Chart More ITW Price to Free Cash Flow (TTM) data by YCharts. To put this into context, the company's FCF expectation for 2018 puts it at a price-to-FCF valuation of around 17. Even if Illinois Tool Works generates zero growth in FCF in 2019, it's still a good value. For 2019, management is currently forecasting organic revenue growth of 2% to 4%, and EPS (earnings per share) growth of around 6%. | https://news.yahoo.com/illinois-tool-works-buy-150400235.html |
Who is winning Europe's artificial intelligence battle? | If you think artificial intelligence is an entirely theoretical pursuit, a quick trip to Kaggle is illuminating. Kaggle is a website that runs competitions, sometimes with serious cash prizes, between teams vying to solve real-world problems by designing algorithms that trawl through big data sets. There are currently 17 competitions up and running. The biggest prize, $100,000 (77,435), is being offered by an investment company for the team that reveals how news reports affect stock prices. The second and third biggest both offering around $50,000 seek to predict when earthquakes will occur and how loyal Brazilian shoppers are. Theres even $25,000 to quantify cuteness in Malaysian pets,... | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/01/19/winning-europes-artificial-intelligence-battle/ |
Why Is Accenture (ACN) Up 4.8% Since Last Earnings Report? | Accenture (ACN) reported earnings 30 days ago. We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues. A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Accenture (ACN). Shares have added about 4.8% in that time frame, underperforming the S&P 500. Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. Accenture Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates Accenture plc reported strong first-quarter fiscal 2019 results wherein both earnings and revenues surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Adjusted earnings of $1.96 per share surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 12 cents and came ahead of the year-ago figure by 17 cents. The bottom line benefited from higher revenues and operating results, lower effective tax rate and lower share count. These were, however, partially offset by higher non-operating expense. Net revenues of $10.6 billion beat the consensus mark by $131.9 million and increased 7% year over year on a reported basis and 9.5% in terms of local currency. Net revenues came within managements guided range of $10.35-$10.65 billion. Revenues Details On the basis of type of work, Consulting revenues (56% of net revenues) of $5.97 billion increased 8% year over year on a reported basis and 10% in terms of local currency. Outsourcing revenues (44%) of $4.64 billion increased 7% year over year on a reported basis and 9% in terms of local currency. Among the operating segments, Communications, Media & Technology revenues (20% of net revenues) of $2.13 billion increased 11% year over year on a reported basis and 14% in terms of local currency. Financial Services revenues (20%) of $2.12 billion decreased 1% year over year on a reported basis as well as in terms of local currency. Health & Public Service revenues (17%) of $1.75 billion increased 4% year over year on a reported basis and 5% in terms of local currency. Products revenues (28%) of $2.93 billion increased 8% year over year on a reported basis and 10% in local currency. Resources revenues (15%) of $1.65 billion increased 18% year over year on a reported basis and 21% in terms of local currency. Geographically, revenues from North Americas (46% of net revenues) of $4.86 billion increased 9% year over year on a reported basis and 10% in terms of local currency. Revenues from Europe (35%) of $3.71 billion increased 4% year over year on a reported basis and 6% in terms of local currency. Revenues from Growth Markets (19%) of $2.04 billion increased 10% year over year on a reported basis and 17% in terms of local currency. Booking Trends Accenture reported new bookings worth $10.2 billion. Consulting bookings and Outsourcing bookings for the reported quarter totaled $5.9 billion and $4.3 billion, respectively. Operating Results Gross margin (gross profit as a percentage of net revenues) for the first quarter of fiscal 2019 increased 10 basis points (bps) to 31.1%. Operating income was $1.63 billion, up 9% year over year. Operating margin for the reported quarter expanded 20 bps. Balance Sheet & Cash Flow Accenture exited first-quarter fiscal 2019 with total cash and cash equivalents balance of $4.36 billion compared with $5.06 billion at the end of the prior quarter. Long-term debt was $19.9 million compared with $19.7 million at the end of the prior quarter. Cash provided by operating activities was $1.03 billion in the reported quarter. Free cash flow came in at $950 million. Dividend Payment On Nov 15, Accentures board of directors paid a semi-annual cash dividend of $1.46 per share to shareholders of record at the close of business on Oct 18. The total cash dividend paid was $933 million in the reported quarter. This dividend payment reflects an increase of 10% over the previous semi-annual dividend declared in March. Share Repurchases In line with its policy of returning cash to shareholders, Accenture repurchased 4.9 million shares for $788 million in the fiscal first quarter. The company had approximately 638 million total shares outstanding as of Nov 30. Guidance Second Quarter Fiscal 2019 For second-quarter fiscal 2019, Accenture expects revenues to be in the range of $10.10- $10.40 billion, which reflects 6-9% growth in local currency. The assumption is inclusive of a negative foreign-exchange impact of 4%. | https://news.yahoo.com/why-accenture-acn-4-8-143002047.html |
Why Is Cintas (CTAS) Up 16.3% Since Last Earnings Report? | Cintas (CTAS) reported earnings 30 days ago. We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues. A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Cintas (CTAS). Shares have added about 16.3% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. Cintas Tops Q2 Earnings Estimates, Raises FY19 View Cintas reported better-than-expected second-quarter fiscal 2019 (ended November 2018) results. Earnings/Revenues Quarterly adjusted earnings came in at $1.76 per share, up 34.4% year over year. The bottom line also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.72. Revenues in the reported quarter improved 7% year over year to $1,718.2 million. The metric also improved 7% year over year organically. Additionally, the top-line numbers surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,695 million. Segmental Break-Up The Uniform Rental and Facility Services segment generated $1,390.8 million revenues in the fiscal second quarter, up 6.3% year over year. The First Aid and Safety Services segments top-line performance improved 10.3% year over year to $153.3 million. Aggregate revenues from Other businesses came in at $174.1 million, up 9.3% year over year. Costs/Margins Aggregate cost of sales in the fiscal second quarter was $943.1 million, up 6% year over year. Gross profit margin improved 50 basis points (bps) year over year to 45.1% in the fiscal second quarter. Selling and administrative expenses flared up 5% year over year to $491.7 million in the reported quarter. G&K Services, Inc. (acquired in March 2017) integration expenses tanked 40% year over year to $7.8 million. Operating margin in the reported quarter was 16%, up 140 bps year over year. Balance Sheet/Cash Flow Exiting the fiscal second quarter, Cintas had cash and cash equivalents of $88.5 million, down from $138.7 million recorded as of May 31, 2018. Long-term debt stood at $2,536.4 million, as against $2,535.3 million recorded at the end of fiscal 2018. In first-half fiscal 2019, the company generated $344.6 million cash from operating activities, down 9.1% year over year. Capital expenditures were $137.6 million, up 3.9% year over year. In the six months of fiscal 2019, Cintas repurchased common stock worth $447 million, under its buyback program. Notably, the companys latest dividend payout of $2.05 per share (Dec 7, 2018) was 26.5% higher than the previous years dividend. Outlook Cintas is poised to enhance its competency on the basis of the successful G&K Services integration and effective implementation of its strategic enterprise resource planning system. The company also remains on track to boost its shareholders remuneration over time. The company raised its revenue guidance for fiscal 2019 (ending May 2019) from $6.80-$6.855 billion to $6.87-$6.91 billion. Also, adjusted earnings view for the fiscal has been raised from $7.19-$7.29 per share to $7.30-$7.38 per share. G&K Services integration expenses are predicted to lie within $18-$22 million in fiscal 2019. Fresh estimates followed an upward path over the past two months. VGM Scores At this time, Cintas has a nice Growth Score of B, a grade with the same score on the momentum front. Charting a somewhat similar path, the stock was allocated a grade of C on the value side, putting it in the middle 20% for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Outlook Cintas has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). We expect an above average return from the stock in the next few months. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Cintas Corporation (CTAS) : Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | https://news.yahoo.com/why-cintas-ctas-16-3-143002145.html |
Why Is Carnival (CCL) Up 10.2% Since Last Earnings Report? | Carnival (CCL) reported earnings 30 days ago. We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues. A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Carnival (CCL). Shares have added about 10.2% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. Carnival Q4 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Lag Carnival has reported mixed fourth-quarter fiscal 2018 results, wherein earning surpassed estimates but revenues lagged the same. Earnings were 70 cents per share, which outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 69 cents and improved 11.1% year over year. Revenues of $4,456 million lagged the consensus mark by $4,459 million but increased 4.6% year over year. This year-over-year top-line improvement can be attributed strength in passenger tickets, and onboard and other as well as tour and other businesses. Net revenue yields rose 3.7% year over year on a constant-currency basis. The upswing was primarily driven by higher net ticket, and net onboard and other yields that increased 2.7% and 6.4%, respectively, in constant currency. Segmental Revenues Carnival generates revenues from Passenger Tickets business, and Onboard and Other as well as Tour and Other segments. Revenues at the Passenger Tickets business segment increased 3.4% year over year to $3,236 million. Onboard and Other revenues totaled $1,170 million, up 7% year over year. Tour and Other revenues rose 42.9% year over year to $50 million. Expenses Net cruise costs (in constant dollar) per available lower berth day (ALBD), excluding fuel, declined 1.8%. Gross cruise costs (including fuel) per ALBD in current dollars increased 2.4%. Balance Sheet Carnival exited the fiscal fourth quarter with cash and cash equivalents of approximately $982 million, up from $395 million as of Nov 30, 2017. Trade and other receivables summed $358 million, up from $312 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. Long-term debt amounted to approximately $7,897 million. Cash from operations totaled $1,113 million in the quarter under review. Carnival spent $966 million on capital expenditure and $352 million on dividends in the same period. First Quarter Fiscal 2019 Outlook Carnival expects EPS to be 40-44 cents in the fiscal first quarter. Net revenue yields are expected to be flat compared with the prior fiscal year. Net cruise costs (excluding fuel) per ALBD in constant currency for the fiscal first quarter are expected to increase by roughly 2% compared with the prior fiscal year. Fiscal 2019 Guidance Carnival expects 2019 EPS to be $4.50 to $4.80 compared with adjusted earnings per share of $4.26 recorded in fiscal 2018. The company expects full-year net cruise costs (excluding fuel) per ALBD to be up approximately 0.5% compared with the prior fiscal year. Moreover, management expects net cruise revenues to be up 5.5%, with capacity growth of 4.6% and higher net revenue yields by 1%. It turns out, fresh estimates flatlined during the past month. The consensus estimate has shifted -8.49% due to these changes. VGM Scores At this time, Carnival has an average Growth Score of C, however its Momentum Score is doing a lot better with an A. Following the exact same course, the stock was allocated a grade of A on the value side, putting it in the top quintile for this investment strategy. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of A. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Outlook Carnival has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. | https://news.yahoo.com/why-carnival-ccl-10-2-143002783.html |
Is Apple's Walled Garden Crumbling? | Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been one of the most successful companies of all time, and with good reason. The tech giant introduced the iPod and the iTunes Store, which revolutionized the music industry. Not content to stop there, the company developed the groundbreaking iPhone, changing how people interact with devices. One of the strategies that has served Apple well over the years is that of the "walled garden," a closed ecosystem enabling the company to regulate not only the hardware, but also the software, apps, and services on its devices -- effectively controlling every aspect of the user experience. Apple's meticulous attention to detail and reputation for quality kept consumers coming back for more. However, slowing iPhone sales, and Apple's increasing dependence on services for growth, are forcing the company outside its walled garden for the first time in its storied history. A crumbling garden wall with lush grass and a spreading tree More Apple's walled garden is beginning to crumble. Image source: Getty Images. Cracks in the wall Several recent developments show how Apple is beginning to abandon some of its long-standing practices, as it transitions from primarily being a device maker to a heavier reliance on services and subscriptions. In November, Apple struck a deal to sell a number of its products directly on Amazon's e-commerce site. A highlight of that deal brought Apple Music to Amazon's Echo devices, a remarkable shift for a company that had released its own HomePod speaker less than a year earlier. Even more telling was the announcement that Apple Music would be coming to other Alexa-powered devices made by Sonos and Logitech. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, a wide array of television manufacturers including LG, Sony, and Vizio announced that key products would be compatible with Apple's AirPlay 2 technology. The system lets you share videos, photos, and music from Apple devices to the Apple TV and a wide assortment of popular speakers, and soon to a range of products from the above-mentioned manufacturers. Samsung went a step further, revealing that it will include a new app on some TV models that will allow viewers to log directly into their Apple accounts and stream TV series and movies from iTunes. Setting a precedent These alliances aren't that unexpected. Apple has had a long history of partnerships to develop apps and systems for its devices, although those still gave the company a modicum of control. Collaboration with IBM in 2014 resulted in the development of a new class of business apps and brought the company's data analytics to the iPhone and iPad. This helped push Apple further into the enterprise market, but it still had input into the final product. What is surprising is Apple's willingness to expand the availability of its services and subscriptions to a growing list of products from a wide variety of manufacturers. This signals the importance of services to Apple's future growth. It also illustrates its need to abandon a long history of self-reliance in order to make access to its services more ubiquitous, and available across a greater swath of devices than just its own. The writing is on the wall Apple investors have long feared a slowdown in the sale of iPhones, and those concerns have finally been realized. In a letter to shareholders earlier this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook revised guidance for the important holiday quarter, saying that disappointing sales of the iconic device would result in a revenue decline of 5% -- just two months after guiding for year-over-year growth of 0.8% to 5.3%. | https://news.yahoo.com/apple-apos-walled-garden-crumbling-140200891.html |
Is Denison Mines a Buy? | Some of the most tempting stocks in the energy and materials industry are companies looking to develop a new mine or other large-scale projects from scratch. These companies tout the incredible economics of these potential projects and how, at today's stock prices, the company is an absolute steal. Denison Mines (NYSEMKT: DNN) very much falls into that category. Based on the estimates management has put together for its uranium mine in Canada, you would be crazy not to invest in this company. What investors should consider, though, is how reliable those numbers really are. So let's dig into Denison's claims and put them to the sniff test to see if Denison Mines' stock is a buy now. Underground uranium mine. More Image source: Getty Images. The siren song of a slide deck When a company is a prospective mining or energy company and doesn't have any currently producing assets or operations, investors are betting largely on what management says in its investor presentation. Reading through Denison's investor presentation, it's easy to see why investors are attracted to the prospective uranium miner. According to Denison, it owns one of the largest undeveloped uranium deposits in the Eastern Athabasca region of Canada. This region is rich in uranium ore and is home to some of the largest producers, including Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) and Orano. On top of this deposit, known as Wheeler River, the company has leases and exploratory licenses on several other tracts of land in the region that management believes hold an immense amount of potential further down the road. The focus for now, though, is on Wheeler River and exploiting its 104 million pounds of high-grade uranium ore. What's perhaps more impressive than the size of Denison's ore deposits is the seemingly off-the-charts profitability the company claims it can achieve once operational. Denison's claim is that it can use in-situ recovery methods that will cost about $3.33 per ton of triuranium octoxide, the common ore form of uranium also known as yellowcake. With current yellowcake prices around $28 per pound, the profit margins here are incredible. With a deposit as large and as profitable as Wheeler River, Denison claims the entire project can generate internal rates of return greater than 38%. When paper runs into reality Before you go rushing to hit the "buy" button after reading Denison's sexy slide deck, it's worth taking a step back and looking at the uranium market as well as scrutinizing some of those numbers. For one, the future of nuclear power is throwing off some mixed signals and may not be as rosy as some uranium miners claim it will be. One thing that miners continue to point at is the amount of nuclear facilities under construction around the world. Cameco notes on its investor presentations that there are 55 new nuclear power plants under construction and that "many more" are planned. The International Energy Agency estimates that nuclear power will grow about 1.8% annually between now and 2040. The question investors need to ask themselves is how much faith we can put in these planned facilities actually getting built. For example, there are seven nuclear plants considered in the planning phase, but none of those seven have gone past the initial licensing phase for years. Also, according to financial advisory firm Lazard, the levelized cost of energy for a new nuclear plant is, at its most economical, double the cost of the least-economical onshore wind farm on a per Megawatt-hour basis. Lazard even estimates that the costs for building a new onshore wind farm without any government subsidies are on the low side of maintaining current operations at an existing nuclear facility. | https://news.yahoo.com/denison-mines-buy-140200816.html |
Does Daredevil Show up in The Punisher Season 2? | Spoilers for the second season of The Punisher past this point, obviously. But the most likely place for DD to rear his horn-head would be one of the few remaining Marvel/Netflix shows. No, man. He doesnt. In fact, the large majority of the second season of Netflixs vigilante drama (I refuse to call it a crime thriller, sorry press releases) is completely removed from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, preferring to stay safely in the realm of cops and criminals to the point that Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) only rarely dons his signature skull vest in order to murderize people. Thats not to say its completely devoid of references to the other shows. Though Daredevil doesnt show up, his lawyer alter-ego Matt Murdock gets name-dropped when another Marvel/Netflix staple shows up. That would be Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll), who pops up towards the end of the season once Frank is captured by the police and handcuffed to a hospital bed. Karen and Frank have a long history: she was his confidant when the character was first introduced in Season 2 of Daredevil; and briefly appeared in the first season of The Punisher in a key role. Once again, she turns up at an important moment in Castles life. Once there, he asks her whether Matt knows shes there, and when she doesnt answer he says, yeah, thats what I thought, urging her to go back to Nelson, Murdock and Page, avocados at law, because theyre good. A bigger feature of the season is Detective Brett Mahoney (Royce Johnson), who started as a beat cop on Daredevil and worked his way up through cameos on Jessica Jones and the first season of The Punisher. Hes a recurring player this season, hunting Frank through the streets of New York before ultimately, begrudgingly letting him operate with semi-impunity. The last MCU player who shows up is Turk Barrett (Rob Morgan), the former crook who always ends up worse than he started thanks to the heroes and anti-heroes of Marvels Netflix shows. Hes actually the only character thats consistently been on every Marvel/Netflix show, and here he gets thrown into the middle of a deadly conflict involving The Punisher and a Russian gang. So technically one could argue that yes, the Daredevil character does live on in The Punisher Season 2, thanks to a name-drop and several characters that spun out of his show. He also, of course, lives on in our hearts. Stay tuned. Stream The Punisher on Netflix | https://decider.com/2019/01/19/the-punisher-season-2-daredevil-cameo-karen-page-turk-barrett/ |
Will More Diversity Among Doctors Help Improve African-American Health? | NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) African American men have the lowest life expectancy of any ethnic group in the country due to health issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and cancer. The problem is puzzling when many of these diseases are so preventable or treatable today. As CBS2s Dr. Max Gomez explains, it may be a matter of diversity. African Americans make up almost 15 percent of the population, but only four percent of doctors, Dr. Clenton Coleman said. According to a new study, this may be a contributing factor in the higher death rate of black men compared to other populations. Sixty-six percent by the age of 50 are at risk for high blood pressure. Compared to the general population about 33 percent and across the board, diabetes, heart disease, cancer that applies and these are all preventative diseases, Coleman added. The study, published the National Bureau for Economic Research, involved more than 700 black men in California, who went to a clinic for free health screenings. The men were randomly assigned to a black, a white, or an Asian male doctor. The result when asked to go for follow-up screenings such as a cholesterol test 62 percent of black men with a black doctor agreed. Thats compared to 36 percent assigned to a doctor who was not black. Similar results were found with additional screenings for diabetes. The basic doctor-patient relationship is built on trust, so theres a rapport thats involved so if theyre more comfortable with their doctor theyre more likely to engage in preventative screening, Coleman explained. Experts agree, genetics, environment, and responses to medications may all share the blame in stacking the deck against black males. Still, the risk factors can be reduced. You can change smoking, you can lose weight so your blood pressure goes down so that your cholesterol improves. These things are modifiable, Dr. Donna Mendes of Mt. Sinai said. Medical schools have been working to admit more minority students, both men and women, so that eventually patients will be more likely to see a doctor who looks like them and they feel they can trust. In the meantime, more hospitals are recognizing the need for culturally sensitive care and doing outreach to educate and connect with all populations to help close the gaps in care. | https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/01/19/diversity-doctors-african-american/ |
Could 1st tangible signs of shutdown progress be emerging? | By JILL COLVIN, LISA MASCARO, ZEKE MILLER and CATHERINE LUCEY WASHINGTON (AP) The first tangible signs of movement may be emerging in the impasse that has shut down the government for weeks: President Donald Trump is promising a major announcement about the closure and the U.S.-Mexico border and Democrats are pledging more money for border security. It was unclear whether the developments, following days of clashes between Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., might represent serious steps toward resolving the partisan fight or instead may simply be political posturing as the partial shutdown reached a record 29th day. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have gone without paychecks, enduring financial hardship. Many public services are unavailable to Americans during the closure. The White House has declined to provide details about what the president would announce midafternoon Saturday. Trump was not expected to sign a national emergency declaration he has said was an option to circumvent Congress, according to two people familiar with the planning. Instead, he was expected to propose the outlines of a deal that the administration believes could have the potential to pave the way for a shutdown end, according to one of the people. They were not authorized to publicly discuss details about the impending announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity. I think itll be an important statement, Trump told reporters Saturday before traveling to an air base in Delaware to honor four Americans killed in a suicide bomb attack in Syria this week. Democrats are now proposing hundreds of millions of dollars for new immigration judges and improvements to ports of entry from Mexico but nothing for the wall, a House aide said, as the party begins fleshing out its vision of improving border security. Trumps refusal to sign spending bills that lack $5.7 billion he wants to start constructing that wall, which Democrats oppose, has prompted the shutdown. We need the help and the backup of a wall, the president said Saturday. Whatever the White House proposed would be the first major overture by the president since Jan. 8, when he gave an Oval Office address trying to make the public case for the border wall. Democrats have said they will not negotiate until the government reopens, raising questions about how Trump might move the ball forward. Democrats were proposing $563 million to hire 75 more immigration judges, who currently face large backlogs processing cases, and $524 million to improve ports of entry in Calexico, California, and San Luis, Arizona, the Democratic House aide said. The money is to be added to spending bills, largely negotiated between the House and Senate, that the House plans to vote on next week. In addition, Democrats were working toward adding money for more border security personnel and for sensors and other technology to a separate bill financing the Department of Homeland Security, but no funds for a wall or other physical barriers, the aide said. It was possible Democrats would introduce that measure next week as the cornerstone of their border security alternative to Trumps wall, the aide said. Earlier Friday, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., who leads the House Appropriations Committees homeland security subcommittee, said in an interview that some Democrats were asking leaders, What is our plan? The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnt authorized to discuss the details publicly. In a video posted on his Twitter feed late Friday, Trump said both sides should take the politics out of it and get to work to make a deal. But he also repeated his warnings, saying: We have to secure our southern border. If we dont do that, were a very, very sad and foolish lot. Few would argue that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding at the U.S.-Mexico border, as the demand for entry by migrants and the Trump administrations hard-line response overwhelm border resources. But critics say Trump has dramatically exaggerated the security risks and they argue that a wall would do little to solve existing problems. Trumps Friday evening tweeted announcement came after Pelosi on Friday canceled her plans to travel by commercial plane to visit U.S. troops in Afghanistan, saying Trump had caused a security risk by talking about the trip. The White House said there was no such leak. It was the latest turn in the high-stakes brinkmanship between Trump and Pelosi that has played out against the stalled negotiations. Pelosi had suggested Trump postpone the annual State of the Union address, a Washington tradition and a platform for his border wall fight with Democrats. It is tentatively scheduled for Jan. 29. Trump never responded directly. Instead, he abruptly canceled Pelosis military flight on Thursday, hours before she and a congressional delegation were to depart for Afghanistan on the previously undisclosed visit to U.S. troops. He asserted on Saturday that Pelosi is under total control of the radical left. ___ For APs complete coverage of the U.S. government shutdown: https://apnews.com/GovernmentShutdown ___ Associated Press writers Deb Riechmann, Kevin Freking, Jon Lemire, Matthew Daly, Andy Taylor, Mary Clare Jalonick, Matt Lee, Lolita C. Baldor and Alan Fram contributed to this report. | https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/01/19/trump-plans-major-announcement-on-border-longest-shutdown/ |
Is there a dark side to the 10-Year Challenge meme? | IF YOU LOGGED into Facebook or Instagram this week you probably couldnt help but notice that everyone was posting photos of themselves 10 years ago alongside a contemporary snap. Its called the 10-Year Challenge and its gone outrageously viral. With the meme at its peak, tech author Kate ONeill posted what she has described as a semi-sarcastic tweet wondering how tech companies could mine the data generated by the trend to train facial recognition algorithms. Me 10 years ago: probably would have played along with the profile picture aging meme going around on Facebook and Instagram Me now: ponders how all this data could be mined to train facial recognition algorithms on age progression and age recognition Kate O'Neill (@kateo) January 12, 2019 Source: Kate O'Neill /Twitter The tweet quickly picked up some virality of its own and has now been liked over 20,000 times. The Fortune 500 advisor expounded on her theory in some follow-up tweets and an article on the tech website Wired. In the piece ONeill argues that the clean, simple, helpfully-labeled images taken 10 years apart would be a boon to someone, or some entity, that was interested in compiling a data set to develop facial recognition technology. Source: Twitter She also hinted that the trend could have been explicitly designed to gather the data, comparing it with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the political consulting firm used a quiz to harvest the data of millions of Facebook users: Even if this particular meme isnt a case of social engineering, the past few years have been rife with examples of social games and memes designed to extract and collect data. Just think of the mass data extraction of more than 70 million American Facebook users performed by Cambridge Analytica. Facebook has gone to the trouble of attempting to quash the theory. This is a user-generated meme that went viral on its own. Facebook did not start this trend, and the meme uses photos that already exist on Facebook, it said in a statement. Facebook gains nothing from this meme (besides reminding us of the questionable fashion trends of 2009). As a reminder, Facebook users can choose to turn facial recognition on or off at any time, it added. Although ONeill said that facial recognition technology will likely be most useful for targeted advertising, she emphasised that users should be careful of what they share on any online platform. She wrote: The broader message, removed from the specifics of any one meme or even any one social platform, is that humans are the richest data sources for most of the technology emerging in the world. We should know this, and proceed with due diligence and sophistication. ONeill comes with impressive credentials, authoring two books on the interaction between humans and technology and giving keynote speeches on digital strategy to some of the worlds biggest companies including Cisco, Coca-Cola and McDonalds. Technology commentator Andy ODonoghue jokingly described the social engineering scenario as brilliant thinking. Realistically, it is actually a solid basis for research, he said to TheJournal.ie. Explaining the mechanics of how developing the technology works he said it requires an enormous base of data, so the tranche of photos could undoubtedly be put to use by developers. The obvious response to ONeills ponderings, and many did say this to her, is that social media users already willingly hand over troves of photos to tech giants. Facebook has been using face recognition for years to make suggestions of who should be tagged in posts. ONeill points out that this is messy because people often upload older images so it can be difficult to know when the photos were actually taken. However with the 10-Year Challenge people are providing a nice, clean data set of photos, spaced an even amount of years apart, often with some extra context added in the message accompanying the post. Its a little dystopian and Big Brother state. But given what Facebook has done in recent years, who knows what theyre capable of, ODonoghue said. What a difference ten years can make! Although I do still have a lot of for my tan lines, hoops and blonde days... #10YearChallenge pic.twitter.com/TVbpNGOBSE Jessica Biel (@JessicaBiel) January 14, 2019 Source: Jessica Biel /Twitter He outlined that, while artificially intelligent facial recognition is a growth area of research and investment, for instance a school in China recently started analysing students behaviour by scanning their faces every 30 seconds, other forms of the technology have actually been in use, most notably by law enforcement agencies, for quite some time. And thats exactly where he believes any potential dark side of the technology lies, with police forces and other government agencies exploiting it to monitor citizens. However, theres just not enough evidence to buy into the big tech conspiracy theory just yet. You can connect the dots. But maybe its just a dotted line, he concluded. | https://www.thejournal.ie:443/ten-year-challenge-face-recognition-4443521-Jan2019/ |
Will Donald Trump Be Undone by the Dumbest Motherfucker Imaginable? | Michael Cohen isn't the dumbass we want, but he is the dumbass we deserve. After an illustrious career of cleaning up after Donald Trump's wandering dick, being the personal injury lawyer for staged accidents, and losing a fortune on taxi medallions, Michael Cohen has finally ended up where he was always headed: on his way to jail. But, like the dumbest capo flipping on the world's stupidest crime family, he's going to try and take everyone else down with him. Michael Cohen is no herodon't get me wrong, he is a piece of shitbut he's what we've got. Thursday night, Cohen was again at the center of the Trump Russia story when BuzzFeed reported that Cohen not only lied to Congress (which he's already pled guilty to), but that he did so at the direction of the President. And in case a thousand other hot takes haven't already explained it to you: telling someone to lie to Congress is a crime. FWD: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Doing crimes Already, the White House is issuing non-denial denials, sending the ludicrously-named Deputy Press Secretary Hogan Gidley on Fox News Friday morning to attack BuzzFeed and to say that Michael Cohen has now been proven to be a liar and self-admits he's a felon so why believe him this time. That defense doesnt work quite as well in this case (even Fox host Bill Hemmer was quick to point out that none of Gidleys explanations were denials), since the BuzzFeed story explicitly states that the news isnt coming from Cohen. Moreover, it includes this amazing revelation: The special counsels office learned about Trumps directive for Cohen to lie to Congress through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents. Cohen then acknowledged those instructions during his interviews with that office. So according to BuzzFeed, not only does Mueller have the evidence, he's got the evidence's evidence. If this is true, you just know he's got a file folder containing a Trump Organization email with the subject line "FWD: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Doing crimes." On Friday, Trump tweeted several times disputing the report. Remember it was Buzzfeed that released the totally discredited Dossier, paid for by Crooked Hillary Clinton and the Democrats (as opposition research), on which the entire Russian probe is based! A very sad day for journalism, but a great day for our Country! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2019 Fake News is truly the ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 19, 2019 And Peter Carr, a spokesman for Robert Mueller, also disputed BuzzFeed's report, saying in a statement, "BuzzFeed's description on specific statements to the special counsel's office, and characterization of documents and testimony obtained by this office, regarding Michael Cohen's congressional testimony are not accurate," Carr said. Still, more broadly, Cohen has been the chewy center of this particularly stupid Tootsie Pop for a while now, having paid off Stormy Daniels and Karen MacDougal on direction of Trump, having initiated conversations with the Russians about building a Trump Tower in Moscow, and now having lied about the same thing to Congress on direction of Trump. As more revelations come out about just how ham-fisted this particular ham was (just yesterday BuzzFeed also revealed that he hired a company to create the @WomenForCohen Twitter account that posted thirsty tweets about Cohen like "Snazzy looking & ready to #MAGA"), you realize just how inept the Trump Organization really was. Oh god. Getty Images Pool But of course this latest revelation isn't from back when Trump was the lead in a community theater rendition of The Godfather, but instead when he was President of the United States. And that's why, if it proves out, this crime is different than the others. Because this isn't something from "way back" in 2016, which have been too easily explained away as ancient history by the president's defenders. No, this one this was a crime from after the election, from after the inauguration, and came directly from Trump himself. Michael Cohen has already admitted to lying to Congress, that part is fact. That he did so at the direction of the sitting President of the United States is the allegation we now have to consider. That this doesn't feel like a particularly long bridge to cross is because all evidence points to Cohen doing exactly what Trump tells him every time. I mean, after all, this guy used his own home equity loan to pay off Stormy Daniels so she'd stay quiet about Trump's mushroom dick. Lying to Congress seems pretty straightforward over that horror. And so here we are: A sitting president ordering his lawyer to lie to congress is a song we've heard before. That this time around the president is a moron and his lawyer a dumbass doesn't change the fact that this is a big one. With this particular Teflon Don, who knows. But it's the best shot so far. If this is the beginning of the end of this stupid chapter, Trump being undone by the dumbest motherfucker imaginable seems like a fitting one. | https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a25955392/donald-trump-michael-cohen-dumb/ |
Will Arizona be crucial 38th state to ratify Equal Rights Amendment? | CLOSE State Sen. Victoria Steele, D-Tucson, talks about her support for the ERA during a rally at the Arizona Capitol on Jan. 18, 2019. Dustin Gardiner, The Republic | azcentral.com One more state. That's how close proponents of the Equal Rights Amendment say they are to crossing the 38-state threshold needed to put it into the U.S. Constitution. The question might sound far-fetched given the ERA has failed in the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature numerous times before. But changes in the Legislature's makeup could make the fight a toss-up. ERA supporters, who held a rally at the state Capitol complex Friday morning, said the momentum for this year's legislative session has moved in their favor. Closer fight expected this year State Rep. Pam Powers Hannley, D-Tucson, sponsored an ERA resolution last year, but Republicans in House refused to allow debate on the measure, which would broadly guarantee equal rights between men and women. The amendment includes three brief sections: Section 1. Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. Section 3. This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification. "It's time for us to make history. We could be the last state to ratify the ERA in 2019. It's time to do this!" @P2Hannley demands equality for women across AZ, equal pay for equal work! pic.twitter.com/I2NKMECKWD Arizona House Democrats (@AZHouseDems) January 18, 2019 Powers Hannley said she feels a "change in the air" this session given Democrats picked up seats in the November election and there are new Republican members. At least two Republican female legislators support it. "It's time for us to make history," Powers Hannley said Friday as she spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of about 100 women, many wearing purple-white-and-green ERA sashes. "There is no time limit on equality." The math for ERA passage in Arizona is better than it has been in decades. MONTINI: Arizona lawmakers can honor Justice O'Connor by passing the Equal Rights Amendment Democrats hold more seats in the Arizona House than they have since 1966, with a 31-29 split. They picked up four seats, so they only need to sway two moderate Republicans go along for ERA ratification. So excited! I just signed my bill to ratify the proposed amendment to the constitution of the United States providing equal rights for men and women. pic.twitter.com/6Jm7g7NgNf Victoria Steele (@VictoriaLSteele) January 18, 2019 Meanwhile, the score is even closer in the Senate. Two new state senators, Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, and Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek, previously co-sponsored the resolution when they were in the House. Both switched chambers this year. Their move means the Senate is at least split 15-15 on the ERA, so only one moderate Republican is likely needed to pass it there. Key role in revived national fight State Sen. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert, is expected to block the Equal Rights Amendment bill from being heard in Judiciary Committee. (Photo: Cheryl Evans, The Republic) In other words, advocates nationwide will be watching Arizona's debate, given that it could be the linchpin for ratification. Congress sent the ERA to the states in 1972, when women's equality issues were at the forefront of a national debate. The movement lost steam after not obtaining the approval from 38 states by the 1982 deadline Congress had set. But the issue was revived in 2017, when Nevada became the 36th state to ratify the amendment. Illinois followed and became the 37th state last year. Opponents of the ERA argue the debate is pointless because Congress' self-imposed deadline has passed. However, supporters argue that isn't a barrier because the Constitution sets no deadline for ratification. If Arizona becomes the 38th state, that issue will likely be fought in court or in Congress. Other states also are in contention to be the next to ratify the ERA. On Jan. 15, the Virginia Senate voted for ratification, though the issue faces an uphill fight in the House there. Florida, North Carolina and Utah have also debated ratification in recent years. Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment attend a rally at the Arizona Capitol on Jan. 18, 2019. (Photo: Dustin Gardiner) Critics of the ERA contend the measure isn't needed because other areas of federal law already prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender. Among them is state Sen. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert, who chairs the powerful Judiciary Committee, where it likely would be heard. "If you have people that are paying less money based on gender, they are already breaking the law," Farnsworth said when the bill was debated last year. "Enforce the law." Farnsworth, who didn't respond to a request for comment, is expected to block the bill from being heard in his committee. That could mean Democrats and ERA supporters must use a procedural move to try to force a floor debate. Powers Hannley did that last year, on Equal Pay Day, April 10, the day on the calendar when the average woman's earnings catch up to what a male peer earns. Farnsworth argued during floor debate that the ERA could have unintended consequences and be used to remove abortion restrictions. Supporters aim for bipartisan win State Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottsdale, an anti-abortion conservative, said she joined the cause anyway because she realized apprehensions about the ERA are misconceptions. (Photo: Sean Logan, The Republic) Supporters said their campaign will dispel old arguments against the ERA. Conservatives rallied to defeat the amendment in the 1980s because they argued it would undermine traditional family roles. They also said it would guarantee access to abortion. ERA advocates say that argument is a distraction because the Supreme Court has established that the procedure is legal. Ugenti-Rita, an anti-abortion conservative, said she was initially wary to take up the ERA fight, knowing it would lead to attacks from within her party, evidenced by her bitter primary race last year. She said she joined the cause anyway because she realized apprehensions about the ERA are misconceptions. "It's a little scary for Republicans to get on this issue ... you may get vilified in your own district," Ugenti-Rita told ERA supporters Friday. "We want to give them that space and walk them through that." She said the ERA's actual language isn't remotely controversial to most Republican women she's talked about the issue with. Ugenti-Rita said she wants to return to the days when the ERA was part of the Republican Party's platform, before it was removed in 1980. CLOSE State Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, R-Scottdale, explains her support for the ERA during a rally at the Arizona Capitol on Jan. 18, 2019. Dustin Gardiner, The Republic | azcentral.com Powers Hannley said the idea that women don't still face inequalities is just wrong. One area that still needs to be confronted, she said, is the gender-pay gap: Nationally, women earn about 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. In Arizona, women earn about 82 cents for every dollar. "This is wage discrimination and it hurts not only these women and their children, but it hurts our state's economy," Powers Hannley said. "Over a lifetime, most women will lose a half a million dollars. I want my money back." READ MORE: CLOSE Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, actress Alyssa Milano and others rallied Monday for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The ERA was passed by Congress in 1972, but is still one state short of the 38 needed to ratify the amendment. Click here to subscribe to azcentral.com. Go to connect.azcentral.com for a staff list, for more information about the newsroom and for details about upcoming events. 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What is Manny Pacquiao Fighting For? | Thats one of the questions looming prior to the first major pay-per-view event of the year featuring one of the legends of boxing, Manny Pac-Man Pacquiao 60-7-2 (39 KOs). The Pac-Man hopes to have an answer for The Problem that is Adrien Broner 33-3-1, 1 NC (24 KOs). According to paperwork filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Pacquiaos purse is $10 million, plus a percentage of the profits from the pay-per-view event. Multiple sources confirmed to BoxingScene.com and other media outlets, Pacquiaos total purse from fighting Broner will generate at least $20 million. The Pac-Man will earn $10 million Saturday night, from which will pay towards federal income taxes and taxes to help settle outstanding debt with the Internal Revenue Service. Other financial particulars comprise of expenses such as sanctioning fees for defending the WBAs Regular world welterweight title and wages towards members of his team. However, a silver lining for Pacquiao is the money he will earn from various revenue streams including Filipino television rights, American pay-per-view revenue from Showtime and sponsorships. The earning of multi-millions is quite the prize, but the other rewards Pacquiao is fighting for does not have a price tag. Pacquiao is fighting for his people as he is affectionately known as the fighting pride of the Philippines and he is fighting in a sense to represent older athletes and show he still has the juice (no pun intended). Life begins at 40, exclaimed Pacquiao at his gala leading up to the fight. Physically, I still feel like I am 25, but with the benefit of the wisdom that comes from the added years of my life experience. I still have a lot I want to accomplish as an athlete, a public servant, and a father, husband and son. I look forward to adding more chapters to my life story. Also now more than ever, Pacquiao is fighting with a sense of freedom. No longer bound by the invisible lasso of Top Rank Promotions, that prohibited Pacquiao from matching up against some of the best opposition at welterweight in recent years. Pacquiao secured greater fight freedom upon signing with the perceived enemy at least amongst many members of the media, Al Haymon. | PACQUIAO SIGNS WITH HAYMON! The Filipino ring legend signs with boxing power-broker Al Haymon and has already set his sights on members of the PBC roster READ: https://t.co/w5oS5wysyW#Boxing pic.twitter.com/LfTsOEDUrh Boxing Social (@boxing_social) October 22, 2018 Pacquiao now has the opportunity to fight Keith Thurman, Errol Spence, Shawn Porter, Mikey Garcia or Danny Garcia. He could even fight long-time adversary Floyd Mayweather if he is tempted to return from retirement. Thats the thinking in my mind and my heart that there will be another [Mayweather] fight, Pacquiao acknowledged last week in an interview with the Times. The opinion from most boxing observers is Pacquiao will defeat Broner. Assuming he doesnt suffer too much damage against Broner, Pacquiao more than likely will be well suited to fight again late spring/early summer. To figure that out, we must observe history. Although Pacquiao has a great resume and will be remembered as a great fighter and one of the best fighters from his era, there are many instances where the easier path was selected. This is a part of the sport, part of the business and many fighters dating back to the Jack Johnson days operated under this pretense. Whether Pacquiao fights his other Premier Boxing Champions compatriots remains to be seen. In recent memory for years ongoing, there was the highly anticipated, vastly discussed match-up between Pacquiao and fellow Top Rank stable mate Terence Crawford, but it never materialized. For Pacquiao, the last three opponents leading up to Broner were Lucas Matthysse, Jeff Horn and Jessie Vargas. Matthyesse was past his prime, Horn and Vargas are very good fighters but probably a tier below the top welterweights. In spite of Pacquiao and his team speaking highly of the 40-year-olds talents and physical abilities even at this advanced age, its difficult to imagine Pacquiao as an elite level fighter equipped to tackle the monsters at welterweight. At this stage, Pacquiao doesnt have anything to prove and hes at a stage where he can reap the benefits of his reputation in the twilight of his career. As far as we know, Pacquiao now more so than ever has the executive freedom to do so. There isnt a mandate for Pacquiao to fight the monsters at welterweight. This fight is an illustration of such. But it can be also viewed as a barometer as to what Pacquiao can still do. Yes Pacquiao is fighting to prove a point about age, hes fighting for money (as every fighter should) and hes fighting to secure the future of his fighters under his promotional company. Im working with Al Haymon and consulting him for this big opportunity for me and my boxers that I have in the Philippines, Pacquiao said of the reach Haymon has in the boxing industry, coupled with his deals with Fox and Showtime. You know, so its a big opportunity for them. Im not thinking about myself alone, but Im thinking about my fighters. I have a lot of fighters in the Philippines, at least 50 boxers, and I want them to have a chance here, in America, to fight. The perfect opponent for Pacquiao to make his PBC debut is against Broner. While Broner is one of boxings exuberant personalities, he far removed as being regarded as one of boxings best fighters. While Broner is extremely talented, his talent may have also served as his biggest hindrance. When a fighter is naturally gifted, things have a tendency to come easier; more naturally. In some cases, the talented individual may not hone the skills necessary to stay at an elite level and perform consistently to their greatest ability. Broner displayed exploits of greatness in previous fights, but also performed poorly; underwhelming even, when the spotlight was on him. Hes the unpredictable variable. With Adrien, the curiosity is you never know what youre gonna get out of him, Showtime analyst and former Broner opponent Paulie Malignaggi told BoxingScene.com. You can never predict him, and unpredictability is a very big key to marketing. When you never can figure out the answer to somebody hes The Problem, and nobody has the answer. You never know what mood hes in or if hes being genuine or disingenuous. You never know if hes joking or hes serious. But the bottom line is he can fight. If you cant fight and youre a boxer, none of the other intangibles will matter. People tend to forget in all this that the kid can fight. Just as people are writing off Broner, Pacquiao experienced the same after falling to Horn in 2017. People writing me off after the Jeff Horn fight was good for me. Im not mad at anyone who thought that. It just became a challenge and a test to me of whether or not I could still show my best, said Pacquiao. The knockout in my last fight felt good. It felt like my younger days against Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto and others. That fight was a big challenge for me to recover from the fight against Jeff Horn. People said that my career was done. But I never got discouraged, I just worked hard and made the knockout against Lucas Matthysse happen. Whether Manny can capture that knock-out magic against Broner remains to be witnessed. While hes fighting with divine purpose, a defeat does not hinder Pacquiao. His legacy is already cemented and everything earned this upcoming bout and beyond is the cherry on top. | https://www.boxinginsider.com/columns/what-is-manny-pacquiao-fighting-for/ |
How Safe Is Eaton and Its Dividend? | Eaton (NYSE: ETN) is offering investors a generous 3.7% yield today, well above what you'd get from an S&P 500 index fund. The stock, however, is down 16% over the past year. Earnings have been good lately, but the company operates globally in the industrial sector, which is highly cyclical. With investors increasingly concerned about worldwide economic growth, it's time to see if Eaton can sustain that dividend if it hits a rough patch. The business Eaton operates five main businesses: Electrical products (around 33% of revenue), electrical systems and services (28%), vehicle (16%), hydraulic (12%), and aerospace (9%). It started up a sixth division in 2018 called eMobility to serve the electric vehicle market, but it remains tiny at just 1.5% of revenue. The key takeaway here, however, is that Eaton has a fairly diversified business, with operations that do well at different points in the economic cycle. That's not to suggest that a downturn won't hurt, but that the company's business is built to weather such storms. Two men looking at blueprints above a factory floor More Image source: Getty Images. Eaton is also fairly well diversified globally, with about 54% of revenue from the United States, 22% from Europe, 12% from the Asia-Pacific region, 7% from Latin America, and 5% from Canada. Clearly the economic ups and downs in North America will have the biggest impact on Eaton's business. However, it has a broad reach that, when combined with its portfolio, should allow it to get through downturns in relative stride. Eaton is simply too large and diverse a company to get into every nook and cranny, but that's the point. It has its business spread well enough that there's little reason to be concerned about any one segment. This also gives management the ability to actively manage its portfolio via acquisitions and dispositions, adjusting the business over time so it is positioned for long-term growth. This is a common theme throughout the company's 100-plus-year history. To put some numbers on the results of all of this, during the deep 2007 to 2009 recession, earnings dipped into the red in just a single quarter. Trailing-12-month earnings, however, stayed in positive territory throughout the downturn. In other words, Eaton got hit by an economic hurricane and survived without too much pain because it is specifically built to withstand such blows. Surviving a downturn is one thing; continuing to pay a dividend throughout a soft patch is another. Eaton is currently working on a nine-year streak of annual dividend increases. It has a history of regular annual hikes stretching much further back, though. Its prior streak ended when management paused dividend hikes about a decade ago to work through the recession. Notably, though, it didn't cut the dividend. So there's a clear desire on management's part to reward investors with regular dividend increases. | https://news.yahoo.com/safe-eaton-dividend-163100415.html |
Where Will Albemarle Be in 5 Years? | Albemarle (NYSE: ALB) has caught the attention of investors over the last few years because of its lithium business. The market for that single commodity has huge growth potential, and rising demand has already helped to spur a massive price increase in the metal. That price spike has cooled since early 2018, but the demand outlook for this business hasn't. Which is why Albemarle is likely to look a lot different in five years than it does today. The current view Right now, Albemarle has three primary divisions. The smallest produces bromine, which is used as a fire retardant in electronics, among other things. This group provides roughly 27% of the company's revenue. The catalysts division makes products for the refining and petrochemicals markets, among others, and accounts for around 33% of the company's sales. The largest operation is Albemarle's lithium business, which mines for and produces lithium, a key material used in batteries. Lithium is about 36% of the company's sales. An electric car charger plugged into an electric car More Image source: Getty Images All three divisions have been doing relatively well lately. Third-quarter catalyst sales were up 15%, while bromine sales grew 9%. The weak spot was actually lithium, which posted a sales gain of just 1%. However, that was partly the result of production issues at several of Albemarle's facilities, all of which have since been resolved. Despite being diversified relatively evenly across three different businesses, Albemarle stock has basically been trading in line with the price of lithium. That metal's price spiked in 2017, sending Albemarle's stock higher. It fell in 2018, and Albemarle's share price again followed along for the ride. Essentially, lithium is the story that's driving Albemarle's stock. But that actually makes a lot of sense, because lithium is also driving the company's future. Meeting the demand Albemarle is projecting demand for lithium to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 18% between 2017 and 2025. Electric vehicles are expected to be the biggest contributor to that increase, with an incredible 35% compound annual growth rate in demand over that period. Simply put, it takes a lot of batteries to power a car, and more lithium will be needed to meet that demand -- a lot more. Albemarle's Lithium Demand Projections Applications 2017 Demand (Kilotons LCE) 2017 to 2025 CAGR 2025 Demand (Kilotons LCE) Transportation 50 35% 550 Consumer electronics 60 8% 110 Other/industrial 110 3% to 4% 140 Total 220 Approximately 18% 800 Data source: Albemarle. LCE = lithium carbonate equivalent. Albermarle is positioning itself to stay atop the list of global lithium producers, using the profits from its bromine and catalyst operations to help fund growth on the lithium side of the business. Generally speaking, that has meant building new lithium mines and expanding operations at existing mines. For example, it late 2018 it inked a deal to acquire a 50% stake in a planned Australian lithium mine for roughly $1.15 billion. It has also been working on in-house projects. The company's growth goals are material. It expects to increase lithium production from 65 kilotons of lithium carbonate (LCE) in 2017 to 165 kilotons LCE in 2021. After that, its next target is to ramp up production to 325 kilotons LCE, but management hasn't given any specifics on when it expects to achieve that goal. Note, however, that prior to December's Australian mine deal, the long-term goal was 225 kilotons LCE. The trend is clear: Over the next five years, investors should expect lithium to become an increasingly important part of Albemarle's business. | https://news.yahoo.com/where-albemarle-5-years-154800289.html |
Will Britain's new nuclear age ever see the light of day? | It is a national emergency and its been left far too late, says Greg Clark. Weve known for the last 10 years that most of our nuclear power fleet would come to the end of its planned life. The Business Secretarys dire warning is almost a decade old. In late 2009, as a member of the shadow cabinet, Clark could not have guessed that the UKs delayed nuclear dawn was a false one. The Labour government had just given the go-ahead for 10 new nuclear projects. They were expected to begin powering homes by the Christmas of 2017. The biggest concern was whether the public would tolerate such a rapid pace of nuclear construction. They neednt have worried. In the years since Britain heralded a... | https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/01/19/will-britains-new-nuclear-age-ever-see-light-day/ |
When is the 2019 Oscar nominations announcement and how to watch in the UK? | The Academy Awards are coming up fast. (Picture: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images) Kicked off by the Golden Globes earlier this month, awards season is in full swing, with attention now shifting towards the 2019 Academy Awards. This round of the Oscars marks the 91st anniversary of the awards show, and considering the nominees havent even been announced yet, its been quite controversial already. Mary Queen of Scots: Release date, cast, and trailer Comedian Kevin Hart was initially confirmed to front this years Oscars, but that plan was exceedingly short-lived as he stepped down from the role in December following the reveal of controversial tweets from his past. A new category called Best Popular Film was originally going to be debuted at this years ceremony, but after a negative reaction, it was announced that it too would not be making an appearance on the Oscars stage this year. Advertisement Advertisement We found out in September that the category would be postponed with a statement saying The Academy recognised that implementing any new award nine months into the year creates challenges for films that have already been released. Many films have already appeared as early favourites for this years awards, but the official nominations havent been announced yet. The Academy Award nominations are set to be announced on Tuesday 22 January 2019. Last year in 2018, the nominations were revealed on 23 January, with The Shape of Water going on to win Best Picture. Meanwhile Frances McDormand won Best Actress for her turn in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, and Gary Oldman won Best Actor for his role as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. If youre in the UK and hoping to watch the events unfold live then you will be staying up quite late as the 2019 Oscar will begin at 1am on Monday 25 February. It will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollwood, California. The bookies have Glenn Close and Lady Gaga head to head as favourites to win Best Actress. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) Youll be able to watch the Academy Awards live on the dedicated Sky Cinema Oscars channel. And you dont necessarily need to be a Sky subscriber to access this channel all you will need is a Sky Cinema Pass on NOW TV, which you can get for free if youre a new customer, or for 9.99 a month if youre not. For Best picture, the odds currently favour Roma at 7-4, and A Star is Born at 5-2 that theyll win. A Star Is Born seems to be doing fairly well across the board, with 3-1 on Bradley Cooper to win Best Actor and 6-1 on him to win Best Director, and 7-2 on Lady Gaga to snap up Best Actress. But, despite the hype, theyre not the favourites to win in those categories. Its looking more like Rami Malek might scoop up best actor for his portrayal of rock star Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody with the odds at 4-7. Glenn Close has the exact same odds which make her the favourite to win Best Actress for her turn in tense drama The Wife. Meanwhile Alfono Cuaron is tipped to win Best Director for his critically lauded film Roma, which you might remember from the top of this paragraph as one of the contenders for Best Picture. Odds courtesy of Coral. MORE: Oscars open to Kevin Hart hosting 2019 ceremony after Ellen DeGeneres interview MORE: Killing Eve release date, plot and cast as Sandra Oh hosts Golden Globes | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/19/when-is-the-2019-oscar-nominations-announcement-and-how-to-watch-in-the-uk-8363349/ |
What's realistic for Clemson's midyear enrollees this spring? | THE WEST ZONE message board | SHOP NOW: DEALS on CLEMSON apparel Enrolling as a midyear signee doesnt mean youll play, just as being a later enrollee in the summer doesnt foretell redshirting. Talent level and whether theres depth chart opportunity are more important indicators. But the odds of a freshman contributing sooner than later in his first season do go up if he has an offseason of college strength training, spring practice and immersion in the playbook under his belt heading into the season. Clemson's staff has tended to use about half of its newcomers in recent years. So the spring gives a telling impression for which ones have a reasonable chance for contribution. And with so many of the Tigers class enrolling two weeks ago 17 of the 27 signees the April 6 spring game should provide some additional viewing value. | https://clemson.rivals.com/news/what-s-realistic-for-clemson-s-midyear-enrollees-this-spring- |
What did Kathy Burke tweet about Prince Philip? | Kathy has come under fire for her colourful language. (Picture: PA/REX/Twitter) Kathy Burke took to Twitter to call out Prince Philip this week, following his accident at Sandringham on Thursday where he crashed into another car, leaving two people injured. The Duke of Edinburgh, 97, was in the driving seat of his Land Rover when he pulled out of a driveway and hit another car near the Sandringham Estate. Upon hearing about the incident, 54-year-old Kathy took to Twitter to vent a little and she didnt hold back. Her tweet read: Very pleased that the 9 month old innocent baby wasnt killed or injured by the 97 year old selfish c***. Very pleased that the 9 month old innocent baby wasn't killed or injured by the 97 year old selfish cunt. kath (@KathyBurke) January 18, 2019 The Absolutely Fabulous star later shared a headline about the four chilling words Prince Philip said after the crash and added: Wankers will defend me. Advertisement Advertisement The comedian also responded to criticisms levelled at her, particularly towards her language. After one person tweeted: Ill wait for the facts before making such a damning comment and never see the need for being that derogatory about anyone, Kathy responded: Hes 97 and was driving. That is a fact. Prince Philip was unscathed after the crash. (Picture: AFP/Getty Images) Prince Philips accident has sparked a debate about whether or not a 97-year-old should be behind the wheel and if they should be re-tested. The Duke of Edinburgh has been frequently photographed using his car, even sometimes giving famous passengers a lift to Windsor Castle including former US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle. Philip retired from official royal engagements in August 2017. MORE: Kathy Burke doubles down on Prince Philip criticism after calling him a selfish c*** MORE: Prince Philip, 97, cried Im such a fool after crashing into mum and baby | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/19/kathy-burke-tweet-prince-philip-8363593/ |
What are the Jets' extremely early odds of winning the Super Bowl in 2019? | The 2018 NFL season has yet to conclude, but bettors are already looking ahead to next years Super Bowl. BetOnline has released preliminary odds for the champions of Super Bowl LIV. The Chiefs, who are still in the hunt for a title this year, received the best odds at 7/1. Conversely, the Dolphins have the worst odds at 100/1. New York is currently pegged as considerable underdogs with 66/1 odds of taking home a Lombardi Trophy. Considering how the team hasnt done so since 1968, those odds are pretty fair for now. Seven other teams the Bills, Bengals, Broncos, Lions, Raiders, Buccaneers and Redskins share the same odds as Gang Green. The New York Giants have slightly better numbers at 40/1. Truth be told, it is way too early to offer up any sound predictions for the winner of Super Bowl LIV. We have yet to see how this offseason will play out and that will certainly impact these odds moving forward. NFL free agency starts on March 13 and the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft is April 25. The Jets will have a $100 million in cap space this offseason, as well as the No. 3 pick, so expect their odds to improve come Week 1. | https://jetswire.usatoday.com/2019/01/19/extremely-early-odds-jets-win-super-bowl-in-2019/ |
What time does the Manny Pacquiao vs. Adrien Broner fight start? | 40-year-old boxing legend Manny Pacquiao has reunited with longtime trainer Freddie Roach, and the duo will return to the ring Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to face Adrien Broner. Pacquiao turned back the clock and looked sensational against Lucas Matthysse last July, picking up his first win by TKO in nine years. The Pacquiao vs. Broner main card will begin at 9:00 p.m. ET on Showtime pay-per-view. There are a total of four fights on the main card. You can expect the main event to begin after 11:15 p.m. ET. Cost: The price for the pay-per-view is $74.99. You can check out a list of cable providers here. Streaming options: You can stream the fight on a mobile or home device using the Showtime App. Here is the main card for Saturdays show: Featherweight: Jhack Tepora (22-0) vs. Hugo Ruiz (38-4) Bantamweight: Raushee Warren (16-2) vs. Nordine Oubaali (14-0) Light Heavyweight: Badou Jack (22-1-3) vs. Marcus Browne (22-0) Welterweight: Manny Pacquiao (60-7-2) vs. Adrien Broner (33-3-1) | https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/01/what-time-does-the-manny-pacquiao-vs-adrien-broner-fight-start |
What time does UFC on ESPN+ 1 start? | The UFC will begin a new era on ESPN Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and UFC Fight Night 143 features a must-watch main event battle between two current champions. UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo will put his belt on the line against UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillshaw in a bout that could decide the future of the entire division. The winner will walk away with the redesigned UFC legacy championship belt. To watch the main card, youll have to sign up for a subscription to ESPN+. A free trial is available for first-time subscribers. You can sign up here. The main card begins at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and includes six fights. You can expect the Cejudo vs. Dillashaw main event to begin after midnight ET. Light Heavyweight: Glover Teixeira (27-7) vs. Karl Roberson (7-1) Flyweight: Paige VanZant (7-4) vs. Rachael Ostovich (4-4) Flyweight: Joseph Benavidez (26-5) vs. Dustin Ortiz (19-7) Lightweight: Gregor Gillespie (12-0) vs. Yancy Medeiros (15-5, 1 NC) Heavyweight: Greg Hardy (3-0) vs. Allen Crowder (9-3, 1 NC) Flyweight championship: Henry Cejudo (13-2) vs. T.J. Dillashaw (16-3) Early prelim action will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and include three fights. Dennis Bermudez vs. Te Edwards Belal Muhammad vs. Geoff Neal Chance Rencountre vs. Kyle Stewart At 8:00 p.m. ET, prelims will switch over to ESPN. Donald Cerrone vs. Alexander Hernandez Joanne Calderwood vs. Ariane Lipski Alonzo Menifield vs. Vinicius Castro Mario Bautista vs. Cory Sandhagen | https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/01/ufc-on-espn-1-start-time-card |
Is There a Womens March in Chicago Today? | One of the largest Womens Marches in 2018 was the Womens March in Chicago. But if youre trying to attend the Womens March in the Chicago area this year, youre going to be disappointed. The Womens March in Chicago was canceled, but there are some alternative events you can attend. The cancelation is a big loss for people who were looking forward to attending. In 2017, about 250,000 people attended the march. Last year in 2018, about 300,000 people attended, and then 100,000 came to Grant Park for an event in October 2018. You can see photos from last years march in Heavys story here. This was a huge event. Womens March 2018 Chicago. Estimated attendance of 300K up from last years 250K. Just think @realDonaldTrump, there are more people st the womens march than were at your bomb of an inauguration last year. Now thats a reason to smile! #WomensMarch2018 #PowerToThePolls pic.twitter.com/w8OQDfktL6 Ellen Wettlaufer (@eaw513) January 20, 2018 But this year things are different. The Chicago chapter of the Womens March canceled their rally as controversy about the Womens March in general grew. The Chicago Tribune reported that the Womens March Chicago organizers said they were canceling the event because of limited volunteer hours and high costs. They made the announcement two months ago. In the end, Womens March Chicago decided not to host an actual event on January 19, but to instead encourage people to take part in Operation: Activation, which is essentially encouraging them to get involved in other activities and to help other people on January 19. If youre just now finding out about the march and looking for an alternative today, here are some options: | https://heavy.com/news/2019/01/womens-march-chicago-alternatives/ |
Where is the Sandringham estate and when does the Queen live there? | The Church of St Mary Magdalene on Queen Elizabeth IIs Sandringham Estate (Picture: Radcliffe/Bauer-Griffin) Sandringham estate is the Queens private home in Norfolk which scales 8,000 hectares. Located around 110 miles north of London, Sandringham House based in the estate has been the Christmas home of the British Royal Family for the last 66 years. Queen Elizabeth II stays there throughout most of the winter until February 6, the anniversary of her fathers death. Prince William, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry at Sandringham on Christmas Day (Geoff Robinson Photography/REX/Shutterstock) It has been reported that the Queen and Prince Philip keep their Christmas decorations up until this date, too. Its understandably close to the Queens heart, once describing it as dear old Sandringham, the place I love better than anywhere else in the world. Her father George VI was also reportedly fond of the house, which he bought from his brother Edward VIII after he abdicated. Advertisement Advertisement Speaking about it, he once wrote: I have always been so happy here and I love the place. Sandringham House is open to the public during the summer months (Picture: Peter Richardson/Robert Harding/REX/Shutterstock) He passed away at Sandringham on 6 Febuary 1952 and the Queen has spent her winters there every year since. The estate hit the news earlier this week after Prince Phillip crashed into another car while he was behind the driving seat of his Land Rover. The Queen and Prince Philip both enjoy driving on the estate (Picture: Steve Parsons/PA Wire) The Duke of Edinburgh was uninjured after the accident, but was said to be shaken, describing himself as such a fool. According to the Editor of Majesty Magazine, Ingrid Seward, the Queen, who also enjoys driving in the estate, would have stern words for Philip after the incident. MORE: Prince Philip, 97, back driving without seatbelt less than 48 hours after crash MORE: The Queen will be annoyed with Prince Philip over car crash which left two injured | https://metro.co.uk/2019/01/19/sandringham-estate-queen-live-8363682/ |
How likely are Colts to sign top free agents? | INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. The date is October 15. After losing their fifth game in six weeks, Im looking up which top 2019 draft prospects would look best in Colts blue. Nick Bosa would be dreamy, but so would Rashan Gary and Ed Oliver should the Buckeye be taken. Fast forward three months and Im recovering from a divisional round playoff loss. Between then and now we learned quite a bit. Andrew Luck is back for real this time. Frank Reich was born to coach this team. Chris Ballard has stocked the Colts with a stable of young talent. But most notable is the fact that this group is still a few key pieces away from being legitimate Super Bowl contenders. Thats the hard step, Ballard said following the final loss of the season. Hes not wrong. The NFL is littered with quality teams who cant quite get over the hump. However, Ballard has more than enough capital to elevate Indianapolis to the next level. Not only do the Colts head into the offseason with four draft choices within the first 90 picks, but they boast the most salary cap space in the league. With roughly $120 million at their disposal, its natural to wonder if Ballard will divert from the free agent bargain bin and splurge on a marquee player. Afterall, the teams surprising success has made Indianapolis a much more desirable destination. It wasnt like people were beating our door down to come to Indianapolis, said Ballard. Absolutely, I do. While its easy to get excited about the idea of landing the big-name free agent that pushes Indy over the edge, its important to remember that Ballard refuses to overpay for talent. The Colts assign a value to every player. If that players asking price exceeds their assigned value, Ballard has no problem walking away. When it gets out of reach, I just think we are comfortable enough to sleep at night saying we are going to find (another) answer, Ballard proclaimed. The Colts wont let the open market dictate their decisions. If Ballard is to sign a big-name free agent, it will be because the market value and his assigned value align. Keeping Ballards free agent philosophy in mind, lets examine some of this years top free agents to determine their chances of joining the Colts. LeVeon Bell Running Back Pittsburgh Steelers Bell is like the smoke-show sitting by herself across the bar. Sure, her sex appeal is tantalizing, but once exposed to her baggage you realize it was the coffee shop girl that you really loved all along. Romantic comedy references aside, the Colts have been rumored to be Bells preferred landing spot for months. While Bell has been one of the leagues best when on the field, his lengthy list of baggage suggests the Colts are likely to say, no, thank you. An ankle sprain and torn MCL forced him to miss 12 career games. Hes been suspended twice for violating the NFLs substance abuse policy, costing him another five games in total. Bell turned down a five-year contract worth $70 million last summer that included $33 million guaranteed. He then chose to sit out the entire 2018 season rather than play under a $14.5 million franchise tag. Nonexistent. Jadeveon Clowney EDGE Houston Texans If Houston allows Clowney to hit the open market, he becomes an extremely intriguing option for the Colts. Not only would signing the three-time Pro Bowler fill a need at defensive end, but it would weaken a division foe in the process. Just entering his prime, Clowney turns 26 in February and has 18.5 sacks over the past two seasons. One could make the case the former first-overall pick is even better at defending the run than rushing the passer. However, injuries have been an issue for Clowney, who has played a full 16-game-season just once in his five-year career. Pass-rusher extraordinaire Von Miller earns roughly $17 million a year, which is approximately what Clowney is expected to demand. Its hard to imagine Ballard feeling comfortable with making such a financial commitment to someone whose health has been unreliable. DeMarcus Lawrence Defensive End Dallas Cowboys Of everyone on this list, Lawrence may have the best chance of becoming a Colt. The 26-year-old has 25 sacks over the past two seasons, tied for fourth-most over that span. Hes also managed to play a full 16-game-season in three of the last four years. Most importantly, Lawrence fits perfectly in Indys defensive scheme thanks to his familiarity with Matt Eberflus. Before becoming the Colts defensive coordinator last February, Eberflus spent the previous seven seasons on Dallas defensive staff and brought many of the same concepts and philosophies with him. Indianapolis manufactured 38 sacks from a variety of contributors in 2018, ranking 19th in that category league-wide. Eberflus knows adding a Tank at defensive end like Lawrence would go a long way in improving those numbers. Though Lawrence wont come cheap, Eberflus may be able to convince Ballard that hes worth it. Landon Collins Safety New York Giants On the surface, this may appear to be a luxury signing for Indianapolis, but a deeper look at the safety position shows otherwise. Clayton Geathers, Mike Mitchell and J.J. Wilcox are all slated to become unrestricted free agents, while Matthias Farley is set to become a restricted free agent. Geathers has never remained healthy enough to complete a full 16-game-season in his four-year career. Mitchell turns 32 in June and suffered multiple injuries of his own this past season. Wilcox is best suited as a backup, and Farley is coming off Injured Reserve (IR). Lets not forget that Malik Hooker has already missed 12 games (including postseason) during his first two years as a pro. These are all reasons why Ballard might be inclined to bring in a three-time Pro Bowler who just turned 25 this month. Collins is an enforcer who thrives in the box and can have a Bob Sanders-like impact for the Horseshoe. Before this season, Collins had only missed one game in three years, but tore his rotator cuff in week 13, landing him on IR. While signing an injured player can be unsettling, the ailment may bring his price down enough for Ballard to pull the trigger. Grady Jarrett Defensive Tackle Atlanta Falcons Jarrett may be best known around these parts for sacking Tom Brady three times during Super Bowl LI, tying the single-game Super Bowl sack record. Hes carried that momentum with him over the last two seasons and has established himself as a quality interior defender. Though a tad undersized, Jarrett is a penetrator who excels at shooting gaps and making plays in the opponents backfield. The 25-year-old is coming off a career-year in which he notched 6 sacks to go along with 53 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Jarrett would be a perfect fit in the Colts 4-3 scheme, which emphasizes applying pressure with the front four. The former Clemson Tiger has proven to be durable for the most part, missing just three games over his four-year career. Given his talent, age, scheme-fit and durability, Ballard might be willing to shell-out roughly $10 million a year for Jarrett. However, if the asking price is closer to $15 million per season, Indianapolis is likely to back off. Grady Jarrett (@GradyJarrett) walks Lauvao back with the hesi/bull for the sack. Jarrett rushes with leverage & snaps the OL's head back, which makes the bull rush more effective! #Falcons via @MarkBullockNFL pic.twitter.com/QPOxK9oGlP DLineVids (@DLineVids) November 4, 2018 Golden Tate Wide Receiver Philadelphia Eagles Its no secret that wide receiver is the Colts biggest need heading into the offseason. Lets put aside for a second the fact that Dontrelle Inman (unrestricted), Ryan Grant (unrestricted) and Chester Rogers (restricted) are all set to become free agents. According to The Washington Post, Indianapolis 28 drops in 2018 were the third-most in the NFL. After T.Y. Hilton, Chester Rogers had the second-most receiving yards (485) of any Colts receiver. Rogers 30.3 yards per game average was the second-fewest of any teams number-two receiver. Tate is considered the top receiver in this years free agent class but will be 31 by the start of next season. He seemed out of sorts once joining the Eagles, and his 510 stature wouldnt do much to compliment the small but speedy Hilton. If Ballard addressed the position through free agency, expect him to turn toward a younger receiver with more size, such as Devin Funchess or Tyrell Williams. | https://fox59.com/2019/01/19/how-likely-are-colts-to-sign-top-free-agents/ |
Is enough being done to prevent the misuse of disabled parking? | A car parked across disabled bays at Asda in Norwich. Photo: Submitted Submitted A Norwich shopper has voiced concerns about the abuse of disabled parking after they spotted a car with no visible blue badge parked across two disabled bays. Share Email this article to a friend To send a link to this page you must be logged in. A car parked across disabled bays at Asda in Norwich. Photo: Submitted A car parked across disabled bays at Asda in Norwich. Photo: Submitted The shopper, who wishes to remain anonymous, was frustrated to see the misuse of disabled parking at Asda on Drayton High Road in Norwich on Friday evening. Speaking about why they felt it was important to draw attention to, they said: Blue badge parking spaces help those who are differently abled to park closer to their destination and Im pleased we live in a society where we recognise and make allowances for this. You might imagine that it was some terrific emergency that prompted the driver to rush and park as they did, and hope that they were okay. Sadly, Ive left other local stores multiple times this year alone, behind irresponsible drivers going back to their cars parked across the only accessible bay. In this instance, there were additional spaces remaining, but if everyone just parked where they liked, at some point people who actually need that facility will be obstructed or, worst case, harmed. The shopper said that a tannoy announcement in store asked for the owner of the car to attend their vehicle, but asserted they didnt think these sort of requests were an effective way of enforcing parking policies. They also contacted the Asda store via Twitter to raise their concerns. Asda Service Team responded with: Thank you for contacting us. Our car parks are monitored by third parties. Did you manage to speak to the manager in the store at all? Vote in our poll and let us know what you think. | https://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/disabled-parking-norwich-asda-poll-1-5858623 |
Are the U.S. and Russia in a new Cold War? | The revelation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections caught Americans by surprise. As we learn more about how the Russian intelligence agencies, state-controlled media and various proxies worked to influence the U.S. elections in an effort to undermine trust in the electoral process and further divide Americans, many are asking if the United States and Russia are in a new Cold War. But, as we know, the Cold War didnt end in the Soviet Unions favor. During the Cold War, the world seemed more neatly divided into a competition between two superpowers. Americans were taught that the Communists were the bad guys (and Soviet citizens were taught about the evils and hypocrisy of the West). After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, however, the United States reigned as the sole superpower. Without the evil empire to oppose, successive U.S. administrations vacillated on the level of focus on Russia and in offering a strategic vision for the newly liberated post-Soviet republics. Each president seemed convinced that he could fix the Russia problem through a close personal relationship with the Russian leader. President Bill Clinton developed a close bond with Boris Yeltsin, and sought to integrate Russia into international institutions, such as the G-8, while at the same time pursuing policies that Yeltsin categorically opposed, most notably the U.S.-led bombing of Serbia. After Yeltsins handpicked successor, Vladimir Putin, took the reins in the Kremlin, President George W. Bush infamously said that he looked into Putins eyes and saw his soul (a comment he would later come to regret). Putin invaded Georgia at the end of Bushs term. Yet, just a year later in 2009, with Putin briefly handing over the presidency to Dmitry Medvedev (but undoubtedly remaining as the decision-maker), the Obama administration was ready for a fresh start. The Obama reset soured quickly however when Putin returned to the presidency in 2012, intent to redefine the relationship with the West as an adversarial one. Relations between Russia and the West took a nosedive in 2014. As Ukrainians rose up in a mass democratic movement to depose a corrupt, Kremlin-controlled leader, Viktor Yanukovich, the Kremlin seized the opportunity to invade Ukraine, taking over Ukraines Crimean peninsula and starting a proxy war in Ukraines east. The United States and Europe responded by imposing economic sanctions on Russia and providing financial and military support to help the Ukrainians defend themselves against further Russian aggression. Similarly, President Trump came into office seeking closer and better relations with Russia. Despite those stated intentions, U.S.-Russia relations have continued to unravel: Congress forced his administration to impose more sanctions on Russian businesses and oligarchs; the U.S. expelled 60 Russian diplomats in response to the attempt by Russian agents to poison a former Russian intelligence officer in the U.K.; and, the White House has pulled out of a Soviet-era arms-control treaty citing rampant Russian violations. that the American people are more confused about U.S.-Russia relations than during the Cold War years. Putin skillfully plays with this ambiguity: He has carefully crafted an image that often contradicts reality. In this image, he plays the roles simultaneously of defender of Christian values (even though the majority of Russians are not religious); savior of Russia from economic destitution (even though under his rule the Russian economy entered a period of stagnation and 25 percent of Russians are too poor to have an indoor toilet); and a strong leader as compared with the weak democratically elected leaders in the West (even though most Westerners who visit Russia outside the glitz of Moscow would likely not want to live there). If it wasnt clear before, it should be clear by now: Putins Russia is an adversary of the United States. The Kremlin needs to have an external enemy to distract the Russian people from the problems plaguing their country. Putin, however, is no fool he understands the limits of Russian capacities and ability to project power. Russia is no match to the United States economically, militarily, or in terms of its appeal to others. The Russian president understands that to win, you dont have to be better than everyone else; everyone else just has to do a little worse. And this is why the Kremlin has launched a strategy of political warfare against the West in the form of disinformation campaigns, support for far-right political parties in Europe, cyberattacks, money laundering, and other tools of influence that allow Moscow to undermine its perceived adversaries at very little cost. After all, its cheaper to open an internet troll farm than to build tanks and invest in sustainable economic growth. And if the Russians can cause so much damage with so little, others who see the United States as an enemy are sure to follow suit. Alina Polyakova is a fellow at the Brookings Institution and an adjunct professor of European studies at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. | https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Are-the-U-S-and-Russia-in-a-new-Cold-War-13546860.php |
Will Chevron Raise Its Dividend in 2019? | The energy sector went through a tough year in 2018, and even the industry's giants proved vulnerable to the pressures of weak oil prices. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) saw its shares fall 13% last year, and it took the company's healthy dividend to avoid a double-digit percentage loss on a total-return basis. As the largest oil producer in the U.S., Chevron has plenty of financial strength, but it's also highly exposed to the ups and downs of the energy markets. Even with its challenges, Chevron has built up an impressive history of paying dividends to its shareholders. The company's dividend growth goes back decades, and its current yield puts it among the top-paying blue chip stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Yet as oil prices took another move lower to close 2018, some dividend investors got more nervous about Chevron's future prospects. Below, we'll look more closely at Chevron to see if it's likely to sustain its streak of higher dividends in 2019. Dividend stats on Chevron Metric Current Stat Current quarterly dividend per share $1.12 Current yield 4% Number of consecutive years with dividend increases 31 years Payout ratio 60% Last increase February 2018 Source: Yahoo! Finance. Last increase refers to ex-dividend date. How Chevron has treated its shareholders Chevron has done a good job of boosting its dividend over time. With more than three decades of annual dividend increases, Chevron qualifies as a Dividend Aristocrat, and its current yield is a healthy one compared with most other stocks across the market. One thing investors need to understand, though, is that Chevron has used technicalities to extend its streak. Even though the total amount that it's paid each year has gone up, there have been some years during which no quarterly dividend increase occurred. That sounds confusing, but it's possible because if the company does a midyear increase to its payout, then the following year's total dividend will be higher as long as Chevron sustains the higher rate throughout that subsequent year. The period from 2014 to 2016 shows how that works. In the second quarter of 2014, Chevron gave investors a 7% boost to its quarterly dividend, raising it from $1 to $1.07 per share. That means that for 2014, the total payout was $4.21 per share. In 2015, Chevron didn't hike its quarterly dividend, but because it made four payments of $1.07, the total of $4.28 per share represented an annual increase. Then in 2016, Chevron waited until the fourth quarter to give a $0.01-per-share increase to $1.08, and that resulted in annual payouts of $4.29 per share. You can see what that looks like in the chart below. CVX Dividend Chart More CVX Dividend data by YCharts. In 2018, though, Chevron was somewhat more generous, with a $0.04-per-share boost to $1.12 quarterly coming early in the year. That reflected an early 2018 rebound in energy prices, along with positive impacts from tax reform. Chevron's far from the only energy company to come under pressure in 2018. The huge drop in crude oil prices late in the year was particularly punishing for the entire industry, and adding to the trouble for Chevron was the fact that rising production in the U.S. market still met with logistical challenges that resulted in particular weakness in the West Texas Intermediate crude benchmark. | https://news.yahoo.com/chevron-raise-dividend-2019-170300339.html |
Did Grace Kelly's daughter Princess Stephanie join the circus? | The circus is in town and the Monaco royal family couldn't be happier. Grace Kelly's children Prince Albert II and Princess Stphanie stepped out for opening night of the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival on Thursday, January 17. They were joined by Stphanie's son Louis Ducruet and his lovely fiance Marie Hoa Chevallier, each family member dressed in their monochromatic best as they celebrated the 43rd edition of the spectacle and enjoyed each performance. Stphanie was particularly invested in the fun night as it seems she has indeed "joined the circus!" and been involved for quite some time. CLICK FOR FULL GALLERY VIEW GALLERY Princess Stphanie oversees the fantastic festival each year The 53-year-old Countess of Polignac clearly inherited her Hollywood mom's love of entertainment, as she spearheads the acclaimed circus year after year. In fact, she organizes and oversees the entire event, right down to choosing the acts that will perform. Although, she doesn't just get her creativity from the late Princess Grace. Her father Prince Rainier was actually the one who started the festival! RELATED: Pauline Ducruet orchestrates birthday surprise for mom Stphanie at the circus VIEW GALLERY A President and a Princess! Stphanie posed with her circus group ahead of opening night Prince Rainier created the fantastical festival back in 1974. It has since become the largest and most prestigious circus event in the world. Now under Stphanie's leadership, it continues to feature the very best international acts around. The 43rd edition, which runs until January 27, touts incredible entertainers from acrobats to magicians to animals! VIEW GALLERY The renowned Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival began in 1974 under Prince Rainier On Thursday, the fabulous foursome complemented each other with their style. Woman of the hour Stphanie put a sultry spin on "Circus President", rocking a low-cut black tuxedo. Meanwhile, her brother Albert and son Louis matched in more traditional looking suits. Louis' love Marie, who he is set to marry sometime this year, wore a chic patterned-wrap dress. VIEW GALLERY Stphanie was joined by all of her children for Day two of the spectacle Princess Stphanie was supported by her son again on day two of the circus, in addition to her other children! Her daughters' Pauline and Camille also accompanied her into the festival on Friday, January 18. Beaming from ear to ear, the sweet family outing was a stylish one, too, with the mom-of-three, again, putting her own touch on tuxedo glam. | https://us.hola.com/royals/2019011916167/princess-stephanie-monaco-royals-circus/ |
What Is Betty White's Net Worth? | Image zoom Amanda Edwards/Getty Images Whether youre a dedicated Golden Girls fan or simply have mad respect for her as a seasoned female entertainer, Betty White is most definitely an American treasure just ask, well, anyone. Even though she is certainly known for her role as Rose (a quarter of the hilarious women who made up the iconic Golden Girls cast), White had already snagged roles prior to stepping into that part, including a longstanding part as Sue Ann Nivens The Happy Homemaker on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Later television shows included Hot In Cleveland and even Saturday Night Live, where she became the oldest host to appear on the late-night show. And while White turns 97 today, she shows no signs of stopping. VIDEO: 10 Times Ellen DeGeneres Inspired Us All It turns out the actual figure is a bit unclear. According to Bankrate, Whites net worth clocks in at $45 million, a figure the website attributes to everything from Whites early roles on programs like The Mary Tyler Moore Show to her most recent series, Hot In Cleveland, which ended in 2015. Money confirmed this figure in a 2017 article for Whites 95th birthday On the other hand, Celebrity Net Worth says White has a net worth of $75 million, noting that she made $75,000 per episode of Hot In Cleveland, where she played Elka Ostrovsky and earned two Screen Actors Guild awards for the role. The Richest quotes Whites net worth at $18 million, but that figure was last updated in 2014. RELATED: 11 Times 96-Year-Old Betty White Told It Like It Is White began her television career in the late 1930s, getting her start as an assistant at a Los Angeles television station, according to Biography.com. She went on to produce and star in her own television show, Life With Elizabeth, in the 1950s which led to a role in The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s, the website noted. White scored two Emmys for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series during her time on the show. Mary Tyler Moore, Grant Tinker, Allen Ludden and I had some of the best times of my life together, White wrote on Instagram after Moore died in January 2017 (Tinker was married to Moore until 1981 and Ludden is Whites late husband). She was special. From there, White was with Golden Girls throughout its seven-season run and, after it ended in 1992, went on to nab recurring roles on shows like Boston Legal and The Bold and the Beautiful, as well as the 2009 movie The Proposal, according to Biography.com. Then in 2010, at age 88, White was asked to appear on SNL after a Facebook campaign petitioned for her to host the show. At the time, White told Newsweek the show was the scariest thing I've ever done. It was really funny stuff, but it was a challenge." White also joined the cast of Hot In Cleveland in 2010, alongside Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick, and also hosted Betty White's Off Their Rockers, a hidden-camera show that featured senior citizens performing pranks. This past summer, PBS paid tribute to the television pioneer with the special, Betty White: First Lady of Television. The documentary showcases White's historic entertainment career and features interviews with her friends and colleagues, including Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Bertinelli, Ryan Reynolds, Tina Fey and Valerie Harper, according to USA Today. Outside of acting, White is also the author of several books, including Betty White In Person, Here We Go Again: My Life in Television and If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't). One book Betty & Friends: My Life at the Zoo is a nod to Whites role as an avid animal advocate As if we needed another reason to love her. | https://www.instyle.com/celebrity/betty-white-net-worth |
Is it harder to be a man or woman in America today? | Please look at all four options and vote as per your biological sex. Thanks, as always, for your feedback! Obviously, this was a totally subjective question and, in the end, all we have is opinions. Still, the response was illuminating. Of those responding, 74 percent were men and 26 percent women. Of the men, slightly better than 2 out of 3 said it was harder for men today. (To be precise, it was 2.08 to 1.) Of the women, the results were almost identical, except that the percentage of women saying it was harder to be a man was slightly higher than the percentage of men with the same point of view. (To be precise, it was 2.25 to 1.) So, it was not just the men who felt it was harder to be a man today. The women agreed as well, slightly more emphatically. Its not hard to list the many challenges women face in America. (Although I failed to specify America in my poll, the great majority of my Twitter followers are American.) You must have a perfect body. You must forever look young. Youre always in danger of being viewed as a sexual object especially if youre considered attractive rather than as a fellow human being with gifts and talents. Theres much more possibility of you being sexually assaulted or harassed. There are settings in which you will not be given an equal opportunity or compensated with full equality. In the home, you might be expected to hold down a full-time job while still doing the work of a full-time homemaker and mother. And the list goes on. I believe it comes down to this: While a woman can freely be a woman without a lot of societal pressure, its hard for a man to know what he can and cant be. Or do. In short, our society celebrates feminism. The word masculinism, which apparently exists on paper, is virtually never used. As for masculinity a word that we do use it is almost a dirty word. It is toxic, the subject of college seminars where male students can address their fundamentally flawed nature. Just being male is bad, while words containing man must be excised. Little wonder, then, that people responded to my poll as they did. As a male, if youre too friendly to women, youre sexist. If youre not friendly enough, youre discriminating against them unfairly. If you take a female employee or co-worker out to dinner, your ultimate goal is to get her in bed. If you dont take her out, youre not giving her the same opportunity you give to men. If youre nurturing and protective or, if you simply open a door for a woman youre an antiquated chauvinist. If you dont open the door, youre selfish. Today, as David French points out, its the American Psychological Association which wrongly declares war on traditional masculinity. Something is fundamentally wrong with you as a traditional male. French writes, It is interesting that in a world that otherwise teaches boys and girls to be yourself, that rule often applies to everyone but the traditional male who has traditional male impulses and characteristics. Then, theyre a problem. Then, theyre often deemed toxic. French also draws attention to two, anti-male razor ads, one by Gillette (from this month) and one by Harrys (in 2017), noting, "If you want to see the difference between a rather awkward attack on truly toxic masculinity and a frontal assault on actual masculine virtue, then look no farther than this 2017 Twitter ad from Harrys. The Harrys ad, he explains, takes masculine aspirational statements like be tough, be a rock, be a man, and be the breadwinner and crosses them out. Its so over-the-top that its almost like a parody of modern woke attacks on masculinity. Whereas the Gillettes message is, Bad things are bad, Harrys message is, Good things are bad. The tweet, since deleted, said this: Today is International Mens Day. Believe it or not, thats a thing. Now more than ever, being a man demands introspection, humility, and optimism. To get to a better tomorrow, we need to take a look at today, and at the misguided stereotypes that got us here in the first place. . . . There you have it, in a word: Just being a man demands introspection, humility, and optimism. Of course, there are negative male stereotypes and destructive male behaviors. Not everything masculine is good or praiseworthy. (The same can be said about certain aspects of female behaviors.) But, today, simply to be a man whatever that may be is bad. God forbid we celebrate that manhood. Again, there are many challenges faced by females in todays society, and Im not minimizing them in the least. And there cannot be a definitive answer to the question posed in my poll (and in this article). At the least, though, we should recognize the many challenges faced by males as well. Society cannot flourish with a generation of emasculated men. | https://www.christianpost.com/voice/is-it-harder-to-be-a-man-or-woman-in-america-today.html |
Should Christians Observe Shabbat? | Bnei Yisrael shall keep the Shabbat, observing the Shabbat throughout the ages as a covenant for all time: Exodus 31:16 (The Israel Bible) The Bible clearly tells us that Shabbat (the Sabbath) is an eternal covenant and a sign between God and the Children of Israel, a testimony to the fact that God introduced the concept of rest on the seventh day. It shall be a sign for all time between Me and the people of Yisrael. For in six days Hashem made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and was refreshed. Exodus 31:17 For most of the past 2,000 years, this hasnt presented any conflict. Jews had their Sabbath from sundown Friday night until sundown Saturday night. And Christians had Sunday. In recent times, these categories have become somewhat blurred, as people with Christian backgrounds have begun seriously exploring the Hebrew roots of their faith. Its also not uncommon for Christian Zionists to experience Shabbat with a Jewish family in Israel and to want to replicate elements of the Jewish Shabbat when they return home. This interest in Shabbat from Torah-aware Christians creates dilemmas on both sides of the bridge. Jews are commonly taught that Shabbat is exclusively and eternally for the Jewish people and that non-Jews are not allowed to keep the Jewish Shabbat. The discussion about people from the Nations marking the seventh day as a Sabbath is found in rabbinic texts which most Christians dont accept. At the same time, Torah-aware Christians are looking for guidance about how to best recognize and honor the Biblical Shabbat. Therein lies the dilemma. The dilemma intensified recently when an article by Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz in Breaking Israel News quoted Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, a major rabbinic figure, saying that the time has come for the Jewish people to encourage people from the Nations to honor Shabbat in ways that are appropriate for them. Rabbi Schwartz said that doing so is connected to the appearance of Moshiach (Messiah). Jewish law recognizes multiple categories of non-Jews. The discussion on this topic is extremely technical and beyond the scope of this article. For the Torah observant Jew, Shabbat observance is a combination of things we do (sometimes called positive commandments) and things we refrain from doing (sometimes called negative commandments). The actions we refrain from doing on Shabbat include driving in a car, using electronic devices, handling money, turning light switches on or off and cooking. Jewish law is clear that people from the Nations are not required to, indeed ought not, refrain from any of the actions that Jews refrain from on Shabbat. The actions that mark Shabbat include things like lighting candles before sundown, eating festive meals and studying the weekly Torah portion. People from the Nations are encouraged to remember the Shabbat by marking it with special rituals. Breaking Israel News spoke to Daniel Goldstein, author of Practicing the Sabbath with Community: A Christian Guidebook for Restoring a Day of Rest from A Jewish Perspective. Goldstein recommends that a Shabbat for non-Jews should include, two candles, a cup of wine (for kiddush), and at least two challot (the special bread of Shabbat). The candles bring light to the home and remind us of the beauty and sacredness of the day. The challah bread is a reminder that God alone is the One who provides our daily food, especially for Shabbat. And the wine of kiddush reminds us how one day each week is set apart as holy unto God, he elaborated. To accompany the lighting of the candles, drinking Shabbat wine and eating challah, its worthwhile for non-Jews to consider reciting relevant Biblical verses Some of the Biblical verses that could be recited to accompany Shabbat candle lighting include: Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light for my path. Psalms 119:105 I found that Wisdom is superior to folly As light is superior to darkness; Ecclesiastes 2:13 Remember the Shabbat day and keep it holy. Exodus 20:8 The mitzvah (commandment) of lighting candles to inaugurate Shabbat is rabbinic and not Biblical in origin. At the same time, there is a very strong tradition in Judaism that all the Biblical foremothers, starting with Sara, lit candles for Shabbat. It is taught that a miracle accompanied Saras Shabbat lights and they would continue to burn all week long. Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, more commonly known as the Lubavitch Rebbe, taught that, Just as any candle reveals whatever is hidden in a dark room, so too the Shabbat candles reveal the Godliness hidden in all things. Just as the light of the Shabbat candles bring peace between a husband and wife, so too they bring peace between God and His world. Kiddush over wine or grape juice has a much more direct Biblical connection. Goldstein pointed out that The blessing for kiddush begins with the verses from Genesis 1:31-2:3 which remembers the first Shabbat as God Himself sanctified the seventh day. Its worthwhile to consider reciting these verses before taking a sip of wine or grape juice on Shabbat. And Hashem saw all that He had made, and found it very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. On the seventh day Hashem finished the work that He had been doing, and He ceased on the seventh day from all the work that He had done. And Hashem blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it Hashem ceased from all the work of creation that He had done. Genesis 1:21-2:3 The third element Goldstein mentioned, challah, translated here as a loaf, is also mentioned in the Bible, specifically as a gift the Jewish people offered to the priests. Its worthwhile to consider reciting these verses before cutting and serving the challah on Shabbat. as the first yield of your baking, you shall set aside a loaf as a gift; you shall set it aside as a gift like the gift from the threshing floor. You shall make a gift to Hashem from the first yield of your baking, throughout the ages. Numbers 15:20-21 Interestingly, the commandment of challah is categorized as tluyot baaretz (dependent on the Jewish people living in the Land of Israel). Beyond the three elements of candles, challah and wine, Christians should seriously consider spending time studying the Bible and especially focusing on the parsha (weekly Torah portion) or the Biblical verses related to the Creation. These verses are especially significant because Shabbat is the culmination of Creation. Shabbat is also an ideal time to spend with family, close friends and like-minded neighbors. A festive meal, with special tableware, wine, challah and multiple courses, is entirely appropriate. Shabbat is also a good time to recite chapters from the Book of Psalms, especially chapter 92 which specifically mentions Shabbat. Some have the custom of reading the entire Book of Psalms every week . To facilitate that, the 150 chapters of Psalms are divided into seven sections. Chapters 120-150 are the Shabbat portion of the Book of Psalms. Another potential Shabbat activity for non-Jews is spending time in nature, which could include taking leisurely walks or hikes or picnicking in a nearby park. Whatever activities one chooses, the emphasis on Shabbat should be on bearing witness to the fact that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Shabbat is the ideal time to reflect on love of God, studying His Torah and acknowledging our belief in the Oneness of God. Goldstein further advised, I would recommend reading the Biblical texts that teach about the Sabbath day and to read an easy-to-understand commentary on the Sabbath, like the book that I have written, Practicing the Sabbath with Community. Regarding the cessation of work, I generally challenge others to consider what consumes their lives for the other six days of the week and to set these activities aside for the day of rest. In a 2015 video about whether a non-Jew can keep Shabbat, Rabbi Dror Cassouto who has a very large following of non-Jewish students, taught that ultimately, the purpose of honoring Shabbat in whatever way is appropriate is, to be very humble, to crown Hashem Yitbarach (God, may His name be blessed) on ourselves. It doesnt matter where you are and on which level youre holding. The question is how humble you are and how much youre crowning Hashem Yitbarach on yourself and how much youre serving and want to commit yourself to Him. he explained. Goldstein concluded by saying that, The Sabbath is sometimes mistakenly viewed as a negative command that people have to keep, causing some to feel restricted from doing what they want to do whenever they choose to do it. Instead of this negative perspective of the Sabbath, I believe it is better to view the Sabbath as a gift from God of a weekly day to set aside the activities that consume our lives with a focus on reflecting on the goodness of God, the joy of family and relationships, and the opportunity to relax without feeling guilty. | https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/120506/should-christians-observe-shabbat/ |
Do Israeli News Outlets Know Content of Trump Mideast Peace Plan? | And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Isaiah 35:10 (The Israel Bible) A report on Israels Channel 13 News revealed that U.S. President Donald Trumps deal of the century between Israel and the Palestinians will involve creating a Palestinian state on 85-90 percent of Judea and Samaria, as well as dividing Jerusalem to make a capital for each state. The Israeli news report purported to be based on a source who was present at a briefing by a senior American official about the plan in Washington. If the details prove to be true, it would involve the annexation of large Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and the creation of a Palestinian state on the remainder. Jerusalem would be divided between east and west, with most Arab neighborhoods becoming part of a Palestinian state. Smaller Jewish communities would not be evacuated under the plan, but would not be issued any building permits. It is unclear whether the communities would remain part of Israel or would become part of Palestine. The plan would also give Israel sovereignty over the Holy Basinthe area of the Old City, the Temple Mount, the Mount of Olives and the Western Wallthough the area would be jointly administered with the State of Palestine, Jordan, and possibly additional countries. The area will apparently be less than what then-prime minister Ehud Olmert offered Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas in 2008, but more than double the areas the Palestinians currently control. Olmert had offered putting the entire Old City of Jerusalem and the associated holy sites under international control. Abbas rejected the deal. Following the report, White House special envoy Jason Greenblatt said the Israeli report is not accurate and added that speculation about the content of the plan is not helpful. Very few people on the planet know what is in it. American Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said the plan would not be released until after Israeli elections on April 9. | https://www.breakingisraelnews.com/120513/israeli-news-content-trump-peace-plan/ |
Has the Salford underworld's notorious code of silence finally been broken? | Get daily updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email The Salford underworld's notorious code of silence has finally cracked. That's the bold claim of detectives who brought the contract killer who assassinated Salford 'Mr Big' Paul Massey to justice. For decades, criminal gangs and families in Salford - more than any other area of Greater Manchester - have lived by a code of silence which demands they never speak to the police, never grass up a fellow criminal. This omerta has protected serious criminals from prosecution. (Image: Manchester Evening News) Detective Chief Inspector Carl Jones said the sheer weight of evidence gathered by police had forced murder spotter Steven Boyle, 36, to do what Salford criminals aren't supposed to do - he grassed on assassin for hire Mark Fellows, 38. Both men are now serving life sentences. The detective who led the Massey murder enquiry says the two men are behind bars in part because of an 'unprecedented' shift in Salford's underworld. DCI Jones spoke out after Fellows and Boyle, both originally from Salford, were jailed for life. Fellows was handed a whole life order after being convicted of two murders, which means he will die behind bars. He used an Uzi to shoot dead Massey, 55, outside his home in Manchester Road in Clifton on July 26, 2015, as part of a gangland feud. Police believe he was paid 10,000 to carry out the hit. Three years later, he murdered Massey's friend John Kinsella, 53, in Merseyside. Kinsella had been a pall-bearer at Massey's funeral. Both men were regarded as significant criminal figures. (Image: Handout) Fellows' co-defendant Boyle was cleared of Massey's murder but found guilty of murdering Kinsella after he had acted as a spotter for the assassin. He was jailed for life, with a minimum 33 years behind bars. He had sensationally claimed during the trial, as he gave evidence from the witness box, that he had been an unwitting part of the Kinsella murder. He alleged that he had thought he was going to meet his friend that day as part of a drug deal and claimed he was shocked when Fellows handed him the murder weapon moments after the shooting in Rainhill, Merseyside, on May 5 last year. (Image: PA) The jury saw through his lies, convicted him of the Kinsella murder and used his evidence to convict Fellows too. With more prosecutions in the pipeline, Det Chf Insp Carl Jones told the M.E.N: "I think the sentences given out to both reflect the seriousness of their crimes. "Mark Fellows is going to spend the rest of his life behind bars and Steven Boyle will be in his 70s before he can apply for parole. "This sends a message out there to other organised criminals considering this type of offence that we will relentlessly pursue and prosecute them. We will stop at nothing and will use all the methods available to us to break through this wall of silence. (Image: Merseyside Police) "This has taken a monumental effort and three years of dogged and determined investigation to reach this point, turning intelligence and information into evidence. We will use all the methods we have to convict serious and dangerous criminals. "Such was the strength of the case against Steven Boyle that he took the unprecedented step, so far as serious criminals in Salford are concerned, of turning on his co-defendant by attempting to push the blame onto Mark Fellows. The jury saw right through this, thankfully, and he was rightly convicted of the murder of John Kinsella." | https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/salford-underworlds-notorious-code-silence-15693861 |
Which Stoke City players put in nine-out-of-10 performances in victory over league leaders Leeds? | Get Weekday Stoke City FC updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email The bare facts do not do this game justice. Any victory over a team leading the league is to be savoured, but this was much more than just that. This was all about Stokes players and fans buying into what we hope will be a sustained Nathan Jones revolution at the bet365 Stadium. There have been false dawns before, and no doubt there will be setbacks along the way, but you get the feeling this is the start of better things for the Potters. It will take time, but Jones is up and running. And so too are his players. MARTIN SPINKS has rated their efforts... BUTLAND: What a breathtaking save to keep out Aylings late header at 1-0 to preserve his clean sheet 8 BAUER: Mixed enthusiasm and discipline to great effect in a right wing-back role that suits him to the ground 8 WILLIAMS: An eye for danger at almost every turn on the right of a three-man central defence that stood so firm for so long 8 SHAWCROSS: Aggressive in both boxes and was so pumped up, doing a Jimmy Connors after one near-post clearance 9 MARTINS INDI: Some great tackling and notable interventions when required 8 CLUCAS: Did well in unusual left wing-back role and a sweet finish with that left foot of his to break the deadlock 8 ADAM: Describing him as immense is no exaggeration after such a masterful contribution to the cause in his second start in four days 9 ALLEN: Ran himself almost ragged in all four corners after rising superbly to the challenge of the league leaders 9 ETEBO: Terrific running with the ball at his feet as he produced a performance a million miles away from his debut at Leeds 8 CAMPBELL: Ran his heart out and positively unnerved defenders at times before his legs understandably gave way 8 AFOBE: Worked hard for the cause and was positively inspired by Campbells example alongside him 8 SUBSTITUTES McCLEAN (for Campbell, 66): Played up front and put in the hard yards for his team ahead of teeing up second goal 8 Not used: Federici, Ince, Berahino, Crouch, Edwards, Woods. Now you rate the Potters... | https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-leeds-player-ratings-2447815 |
What's Powering January's Market Rally? | On the latest edition of Market Week in Review, Chief Investment Strategist Erik Ristuben and Sophie Antal Gilbert, head of AIS business solutions, discussed the recent rally in equity markets, developments on the Brexit front and the impact of the U.S.-China trade war on consumer and business sentiment. Markets on the rise, but declining consumer sentiment signals caution After a brutal December for markets that saw the S&P 500 Index come within two-tenths of a percentage point of a bear market on Christmas Eve, equities have rallied significantly during the first half of January. The S&P 500, Ristuben said, is up roughly 12% from its Dec. 24 bottom, including an approximate 3% climb the week of Jan. 14 alone (as of midday Jan. 18). The STOXX Europe 600 Index also rose nearly 3% from Jan. 14-18, with the MSCI Emerging Markets Index advancing roughly 1%. "One of the worries that helped spark the fourth-quarter selloff was that a recession may be lurking in 2019 - a scenario which has never looked likely to our team of strategists at Russell Investments," Ristuben said. This month's market gains, he noted, are likely indicative of a broader realization that the economic outlook for 2019 isn't as pessimistic as originally feared by some. "This is in line with our thinking - that 2020, and not 2019, is when a U.S. recession is more likely," he stated. That said, in Ristuben's opinion, the all-clear sign for markets has not been raised. Plunging consumer sentiment in the U.S., as evidenced by the latest data from the University of Michigan, is becoming a problem, Ristuben said. "While there are many possible factors contributing to this slump in confidence - including the ongoing trade conflict between the U.S. and China, Brexit and the current partial government shutdown in the U.S. - the fact of the matter is that when everyone starts acting like something bad is going to happen, markets take note and often react in a similarly negative fashion," he explained. Shifting to Brexit, Ristuben said that in the wake of a resounding rejection by Parliament of UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, there now appear to be three options left on the table: A revised divorce agreement between the European Union (EU) and the UK; a no-deal Brexit, whereby the UK would crash out of the EU on March 29 without an agreement in place spelling out its future relationship with the EU; and no Brexit at all. Interestingly enough, the results of a Jan. 16 poll by YouGov showed that 56% of Britons would back remaining in the EU were a second Brexit referendum put forth to voters, Ristuben said - potentially increasing the odds of a no Brexit outcome. However, the chances of such a referendum hinge on Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn being willing to call for one, he noted. "Overall, there does appear to be a growing probability that a light Brexit or a no Brexit may win out - but with the no-deal Brexit option still on the table, market concern isn't going anywhere," Ristuben concluded. Trade relations between the U.S. and China, which have led to wild swings in markets the past several months, may be thawing out a bit as the two nations progress toward a potential resolution, Ristuben said. "In my view, both the U.S. and China have strong incentives to reach a deal," he stated, "given signs of a potential slowdown in the U.S. economy, coupled with the ongoing economic slump in China and the sour market response to the trade conflict." Returning to the theme of sentiment, Ristuben concluded that although the trade war between the two nations hasn't directly impacted the U.S. economy so far, the sum of all the indirect impacts - such as waning consumer and business confidence - has clearly been negative. | https://seekingalpha.com/article/4234363-powering-januarys-market-rally |
Where Will Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. Be in 5 Years? | As its name implies, Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE: BEP) is focused on owning assets that produce clean, renewable energy. That's a sweet spot right now as the world increasingly looks to shift from carbon-based fuels toward options that don't contribute much less to global warming. Add in Brookfield's fat 6.8% yield, and not only do investors get to claim green credentials, they can also collect a generous stream of income. That said, Brookfield Renewable Partners is about to go through a notable change that you should be aware of before you jump aboard. What it looks like today The core of Brookfield Renewable Partners' business is water. Hydroelectric facilities produce around 80% of the partnership's funds from operations (FFO). The technology behind these facilities is well understood and highly reliable. They provide important base-load power, essentially generating electricity on a continual basis. The partnership's hydroelectric footprint provides a truly solid foundation to the business. Two people carrying a solar panel More Image source: Getty Images The only problem is that you can't put a hydroelectric power plant just anywhere. And, as you might expect, most of the really good locations have already been used. To put a number on that, Brookfield estimates that $1.5 trillion has been spent on renewable power over the last five years -- but only 17% of that sum went to hydro power. This is not a growth business, with the partnership basically stuck looking for opportunistic investments. Which is where the rest of the portfolio comes into play. The other 20% of FFO comes largely from wind and solar farms. Of the $1.5 trillion spent on renewable power over the last five years, roughly 47% was put toward solar, with 35% focused on wind. But these two clean energy sources only account for 10% or so of the global power supply. (For reference, hydro is around 17%.) Solar and wind are where the growth is, and Brookfield's management expects that growth to span decades. Getting from here to there So one very big question for Brookfield Renewable Power investors to think about is, "How will the partnership grow its business along with the growth in renewable power?" The obvious answer is that it has to invest in solar and wind. Which is exactly why, in 2017, it bought all of TerraForm Global and a controlling stake in TerraForm Power. It further added to its investment in TerraForm Power in 2018. These two businesses brought with them a portfolio of non-hydro investments, largely in solar. That helped to diversify Brookfield Renewable Power's operations by both increasing its reach in solar and wind, and also expanding the partnership into new geographic regions. Which, over the long-term, should help it find more levers to pull in support of long-term growth. | https://news.yahoo.com/where-brookfield-renewable-partners-l-190400542.html |
Would The Real Lindsey Graham Please Stand up? | In December of 2018 when Donald Trump announced a US troop withdrawal from Syria, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham became one of the most vocal critics of the move. On 18 December, Graham wrote a series of Tweets which included the following statement: As to the status of our Kurdish allies, the Administration has yet to tell the American people what happens to the Kurds who fought so hard for us when we leave. Need answers now. In a further Tweet from 30 December, after Graham held a private meeting with Trump, the Senator said that the US President guaranteed that our Kurdish allies [YPG] would be protected. Now though, it would appear that Graham has changed his tune whilst on a visit to Turkey where he held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoan and other top Turkish officials. Speaking as though he had a revelation about the threat to Turkeys security posed by the YPG the Syria based arm of the PKK terror organisation, Graham said the following: I knew what arming the YPG/PYD meant for Turkey when I learned about it. Here is the promise I made to President Erdoan: Ill try my best to fix the problem weve created for your country. Graham further stated that the YPG is clearly tied to the PKK, something that is widely known in Syria and Turkey but something which some US officials still deny, even when YPG terrorists were photographed in Syria under a giant image of PKK terror kingpin Abdullah Ocalan in 2017. The American Senator then blamed Barack Obama for creating a nightmare for Turkey by establishing contacts with the YPG/PKK that eventually led to Washington arming and organising the group in north-eastern Syria. While Graham is known to be deeply hawkish on Iran and far more hawkish than Trump on Russia, when it comes to Turkey, Lindsey Graham has long standing relations with important figures in Ankara which is what made his previous defence of the YPG/PKK all the more bemusing. Turkish political analyst Yusuf Erim offered the following explanation for Grahams apparent conversion on the matter: Lindsey Graham knows the realities on the ground, who the YPG are and Turkish security concerns better than any Senator. The only problem with him is hes a politician. Knowing something and doing whats right are completely different things. This appears to be the most logical assessment of what transpired between Grahams meetings with Trump in late December and his meetings with Erdoan this week. Against this background, it now appears as though Lindsey Graham is not only now a supporter of Trumps phased Syrian withdrawal but that he seeks to help coordinate the pullout with Turkey so that the YPG/PKK can be disarmed or otherwise pacified by the US so as to ensure Turkeys security. Regarding these issues, Graham stated: If we leave without thinking about this and dealing with the YPG problem that weve created, things in northeastern Syria are going to be far worse. Therefore, as someone who has spoken to both the US and Turkish presidents about a pullout favoured by both Ankara and Washington, Graham has transformed himself from an opponent of the pullout to someone who seeks to help foster ever more coordination between Turkey and the US in Manbij and other parts of northern Syria currently under YPG/PKK occupation. This is all the more important because Graham is widely seen as part of the US political establishment that is often at odds with the new style of politics that Donald Trump has brought to Washington. By both endorsing a phased pullout with the crucial caveat that it must happen simultaneous to close cooperation with Turkey, Graham has gone from a potential stumbling block to the US withdrawal process to someone who appears to be engaged in behaviour that will help to promulgate a win-win outcome in the aftermath of a US pullout that will be done in such a way so as to strengthen rather than worsen the security situation on the Turkey-Syria border. | https://eurasiafuture.com/2019/01/19/would-the-real-lindsey-graham-please-stand-up/ |
Will Trump and Soleimani trade Iraq for Syria? | Beirut by Elijah J. Magnier: @ejmalrai Trump will pull out US forces in 30 days. Trump wont withdraw now Trump will pull out from Syria in four monthsThe US forces began withdrawing military equipment but not the personnel Trump will maintain a 20 mile buffer zone in Syria All these contradictory announcements have come from the White House in the last month or so, indicating some combination of the current occupant of the White Houses lack of experience in foreign policy, or lack of control of his own administration. Nobody in the Middle East believes Trump. Only President Erdogan confirmed the serious intention of the US to withdraw from Syria but was knocked down by Trumps threat to cripple the Turkish economy if Turkey attacks the Kurds. But soon after Trumps threat to Erdogan, he again changed his mind and suddenly announced a new plan for a buffer zone to protect the Kurds, Turkeys worse enemies in the Levant. Trump is signaling a high degree of confusion about his intention to stay or leave Syria. It doesnt matter if the world doesnt understand what Trumps plan is. There is no point in trying to analyse and predict the next step because Trump himself doesnt seem to know what to do next. He wakes up with one decision and seems to change it hours later or the following day. Nevertheless, Trumps continuously changing plans are not preventing his adversary the Iranian General Qassem Soleimani the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in the al Quds Brigade responsible for supporting all movements of the oppressed peoples in the world, mainly the Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi, Palestinian and Afghan groups, but others as well from making plans to counter Trump in Syria and Iraq. Well informed sources say Soleimani is holding meetings with various of his allies groups in the Middle East to stand against US forces and push them away from Iraq and Syria. According to these sources, neither Iran nor Russia believe in Trumps declared intention to withdraw and both are convinced that at least some US forces will remain in the Levant. Soleimani is planning to move more aggressively with his allies once the last ISIS stronghold east of the Euphrates is reconquered. ISIS maintains an area of around 15 sqkm with several villages on the Euphrates and is currently under attack by Kurdish forces supported by the coalition. President Bashar al-Assad agreed with the Iraqi National Security Advisor Faleh al-Fayyad to reactivate coordination of tribal groups in northeast Syria with Iraqi forces. Assad gave the green light to Iraq to coordinate with the Arab tribes in Syria and to push Iraqi security forces into Syria when and if needed to end ISIS control if the US is not willing to finishing the job quickly. Such an arrangement has potential disadvantages Syria and Iraq are aware of. The US forces occupying Northeast Syria could attack Iraqi-Syrian forces attacking ISIS controlled areas as they did in the past. Last year, Israeli jets bombed the Hashd al-Shaabi command and control headquarters on the borders with Syria and US jets twice destroyed Syrian forces trying to attack ISIS, one group crossing the Euphrates, and other advancing towards al-Tanf. If and when the US attack Iraqi forces, such an act of aggression will put pressure on the Iraqi government to ask for the total withdrawal of the US forces from Iraq. If this doesnt happen, another source of leverage will be to make sure US forces in Iraq are under continuous threat. There are many groups in Mesopotamia unfriendly to the US, determined to see their country free from any foreign troops, particularly the US forces, considered the source of all the troubles the Middle East suffers from, say the sources. Thus, the Axis of the Resistance is planning to face down US hegemony in the Levant and Mesopotamia. Iraq and Syria are not friends of Washington and will never act like the Gulf monarchies propped up by US protection. If the US establishment decides to stay in Syria and continue its occupation of the country or establish a buffer zone, the cards will be reshuffled again. If this happens, Turkey, considered to date a friend of Russia, may become an enemy by occupying northeast Syria and deploying forces in the buffer zone suggested by Trump. If and when Turkey does that, it will pass into the hostile camp by opposing Russias plan to protect the integrity of Syria. Such an accommodation with the US might help Turkey fulfill its dream of occupying part of Syria. In this case, Turkey will be considered an enemy and will suffer attacks from the Syrians, supported by Damascus. Local Arab tribes and Kurds will be armed, enough to defend themselves and to counter attack Turkish forces or their allies in al-Hasaka. The Kurds and Damascus will then have the same objective, i.e. the return of northeast Syria to Syrian army control rather than subject to Turkish control or a US-Turkish understanding. And Iran will fight the US through its allies in the Middle East, including Iraq. What is unclear is why the Syrian Democratic Front (SDF Led by Kurds) announced its readiness to support the creation of a safe-zone , a zone Turkey is gathering for it over 80,000 men and is hoping to control around 420 km wide and 32 km deep (bigger than the seize of Lebanon) in Kurdish controlled provinces of Raqqa and al-Hasaka. The US establishment has asked the Iranians to mediate with the Taliban to spare US forces from lethal attacks. The US establishment also asked Iran to refrain from attacking its troops in Iraq. Assent to these requests will be forthcoming if the US responds to one important request from Iran: total withdrawal from Syria. If Trump cannot do it, the US president may be sweating through a hot summer this year. Proofread by: C.G.B. This article is translated for free to many languages by volunteers so readers can enjoy the content. It shall not be masked by Paywall. Id like to thank my followers and readers for the confidence and the support. If you like it, please dont feel embarrassed to contribute and help fund it for as little as 1 Euro. Your contribution, however small, will help ensure its continuity. Thank you. Share this: Email Tweet Print Pocket Telegram | https://ejmagnier.com/2019/01/17/will-trump-and-soleimani-trade-iraq-for-syria/ |
Where are street parking restrictions in effect? | Some communities in Monroe County and Downriver have invoked their "snow emergency" procedures, calling for residents to move their vehicles off certain streets. As of 2:40 p.m. Saturday Some communities in Monroe County and Downriver have invoked their "snow emergency" procedures, calling for residents to move their vehicles off certain streets. The notices in effect include: Village of Dundee The village of Dundee posted the following notice Saturday afternoon: "The Village of Dundee is issuing a snow emergency from 400pm today Saturday, Jan 19th until 8pm tomorrow Sunday Jan 20th. A snow emergency is issued in order to assist our DPW crew with snow removal. Making for a more effective and safe removal process. To be effective we ask that all residents remove their vehicles from the streets until the area has been plowed. Once plowed you may return your vehicle to its original location." City of Flat Rock The City of Flat Rock invoked its snow emergency clause Saturday afternoon. "Please remove all vehicles from the street," the announcement said. These details are on the City of Flat Rock's police department Facebook page: The City of Flat Rock automatically declares a snow emergency when two or more inches of snow has fallen. The City may also declare the emergency in advance of a front that is sure to drop that much snow or more. A snow emergency requires all vehicles be removed from City streets so snow plows can clear roads. This enables police and fire vehicles to safely respond to emergencies. As an additional reminder, City ordinance requires residents to clear sidewalks in front of their homes and NOT push or blow snow into the streets The City uses every avenue available to notify our residents of snow emergencies including radio, cable television (City channel), City website, and network television. We also use a mass notification system that allows residents to receive voice or text messages called Code Red. If you're not signed up to receive these notifications, you can go to www.flatrockmi.org, and click on the "Code Red" tab under "Quick Links". You can also tune into your favorite aforementioned media outlet to stay up to date on potential snow emergencies. Once a snow emergency has been declared, the Flat Rock Police Department will have officers checking roads for vehicles that have not been removed. Officers will make every attempt to contact registered owners of vehicles left on the street prior to having vehicles towed. If contact can't be made, and the vehicle is still on the street, it may be ticketed and towed. This is a matter of public safety for both our first responders as well as our residents. One last thing, it is never legal to park in neighborhood courts where no parking signs are posted. Salt trucks, and emergency vehicles cannot get through these courts when vehicles are parked in them. Please make sure you are not parked in the courts at any time. This is also a reminder to clear all sidewalks to provide a safer environment for all. This must be completed within 24 hours of the snow event. We thank you in advance for your understanding. Rockwood The city of Rockwood posted its notice to residents Friday night. This is on the police department's Facebook page. 'The City of Rockwood has declared a Snow Emergency effective 7:00 AM on Saturday January 19th until 7:00 AM on Sunday January 20th. All vehicles must be removed from the streets. No parking on the streets will be allowed until the expiration of the emergency.. Violators may be ticketed and towed at owners expense." | https://www.monroenews.com/news/20190119/where-are-street-parking-restrictions-in-effect |
What's the Saints' biggest challenge vs. the Rams? | NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune sports columnist Jeff Duncan on Friday (Jan. 18) hosted an AMA (ask me anything) chat on the Reddit Saints forum in advance of Sunday's NFC Championship Game between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Questions ranged from the best and worst matchups for the Saints to Drew Brees' future to Duncan's favorite memories in his nearly 20 years covering the team. Check out some of the top questions from the Q&A, and tune in to our New Orleans Saints on NOLA.com Facebook page every Thursday at 11 a.m., when he and senior Saints writer Josh Katzenstein answer your questions about the team. | https://www.nola.com/expo/sports/g66l-2019/01/a6cffb031f320/whats-the-saints-biggest-challenge-vs-the-rams.html |
Would Ravens fans welcome Steelers WR Antonio Brown? | originally appeared on nbcsportswashington.com If there's one Raven who knows just how difficult it is to cover Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, it's Marlon Humphrey. The second-year cornerback out of Alabama rose to the top of the team's depth chart in the secondary this season and was rewarded with the chance to cover the consensus top pass catcher in football over the last half-decade. Scroll to continue with content Ad It's not newsworthy to tell you that Antonio Brown is an elite receiver. In Week 14 of the 2017 season, with top CB Jimmy Smith on the bench, Brown roasted the Ravens secondary for 213 yards on 11 catches. And in two games this past season with Humphrey following him, Brown combined for 104 yards on 10 catches and a touchdown in each game. What is newsworthy is the Steelers potentially shopping Brown, after numerous reports of locker room struggles and diva qualities from the star. And since he knows just how dangerous Brown can be, it makes sense that Humphrey would prefer to see him in purple and black. Fruit PUNCH (@marlon_humphrey) January 17, 2019 Fans of every team have imagined what it would be like to see Brown in their colors, scoring touchdowns and racking up big yardage. It's no surprise that players would imagine it as well. He hasn't had fewer than 1,284 yards or 8 touchdowns in any season since 2012, but Brown will be 31 by the start of next season, so there probably aren't too many elite seasons left. For the time being, however, Brown would be a major addition for any team. Story continues That goes double for the Ravens, who would A) take a playmaker away from their biggest rivals, and B) finally give themselves a star receiver, something they haven't had on the roster since Anquan Boldin during the Super Bowl run. While no team wants to add an alleged diva to their locker room, the Ravens have historically believed in the strength and leadership of their veterans, and therefore haven't shied away from problematic players. With John Harbaugh running things and Eric Weddle and Terrell Suggs in the locker room (none of whom are guaranteed for 2019, to be fair), the Ravens will likely trust their infrastructure and focus on talent when adding to the roster this offseason, and Brown certainly is talented. Even Humphrey recognizes it's a longshot, however. Not only would it take a massive haul in draft picks and young talent, but the Ravens would need to create some cap room that's already needed to fill other holes on the roster. Plus, it's hard to imagine the Steelers allowing their best player to go to their most hated rival if they can help it, so Baltimore would likely be forced to overpay even more than other teams to pry away Brown. When asked about potentially bringing in both Brown and star running back Le'Veon Bell from Pittsburgh to Baltimore, Humphrey could only laugh. Both no chance lol Fruit PUNCH (@marlon_humphrey) January 17, 2019 Some things really would be too good to be true. It's still fun to speculate, though, and Lamar Jackson throwing up long touchdowns to Brown would be a sight to behold. If anything else, it'd just be nice to get Brown out of the black and gold. Just ask Marlon Humphrey. MORE RAVENS NEWS: | https://sports.yahoo.com/ravens-fans-welcome-steelers-wr-040400299.html?src=rss |
How Can the New Orleans Saints Win Without Ben Watson? | FS1s Skip Bayless has been high on the New Orleans Saints all year, picking them to get to the Super Bowl. But with the NFC Championship Game just 24 hours away, thats all changed. Bayless is now predicting the Los Angeles Rams will pull the upset on road turf. Saints tight end Ben Watson, who wont be available. Before the season, I picked the Saints to get to the SBowl and now I don't love their chances, even at home. No Ben Watson. Rams now have the hottest back in CJ Anderson. Still, I'll hang in with Brees over Goff. Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 19, 2019 This is an intriguing wrinkle. New Orleans will still Drew Brees, Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, and Mark Ingram all bigger offensive names than Watson. The veteran tight end hauled in 35 passes for 400 yards and two scores during the regular season. He was targeted once last week against Philadelphia and hasnt caught more than three passes in a game since October. With Watson out, Josh Hill will get the reps. He snagged three passes last week and 16 in the regular season. Something very new and potentially very significant to keep your eye on. | https://thebiglead.com/2019/01/19/how-can-the-new-orleans-saints-win-without-ben-watson/ |
How have rate-hedged bond ETFs protected retirees? | Nows a perfect time to ask, since the 10-year Treasury yield TNX, +1.27% has continuously traded above the 3% threshold for more than two months now. It wasnt that long agoJuly 2016, for examplewhen this yield was less than half as high. The last two and one-half years therefore provide a real-world test of these ETFs that were created when interest rates were at rock-bottom levels and only had hypothetical backtested returns. Another reason the question is important: The judgment of the futures markets is that the federal-funds rate will be at least 50 basis points higher by the end of this coming year. Overall, I think these rate-hedged ETFs have performed well enough for retirees to give them serious consideration. But you should know that hedging is a messy business, and there inevitably will be timeshopefully temporarywhen the hedges dont work. Consider first these ETFs performance since July 8, 2016. That date was when the Treasurys 10-year yield hit its all-time low (at least since the early 1960s), closing at 1.37%. The comparable yield today is 3.07%, more than twice as high. The accompanying chart reports the performance since then of two of the larger rate-hedged ETFs, along with the comparable returns of the unhedged versions of these same ETFs. Notice how in both cases the rate-hedged ETFs did significantly better than the unhedged versions: In the case of the iShares Interest Rate Hedged Corporate Bond ETF LQDH, +0.47% the hedges added 4.11 annualized percentage points. For the iShares Interest Rate Hedged High Yield Bond ETF HYGH, +0.66% the hedges added 2.98 annualized percentage points. Notice also that, due in no small measure to these hedges, both of these rate-hedged ETFs made money over this period of significantly higher rates. Thats definitely good news. You should know, however, that these hedges dont guarantee that you wont still lose money over shorter periods along the way. Consider year-to-date performance: While these two ETFs have done significantly better than their unhedged versions since the beginning of the year, they still are in the red: LQDH fund has lost 2.9% and the HYGH has lost 2.2%. The answer traces to the mechanics of hedging interest rate exposure. Each of these ETFs owns a basket of bonds with different maturities, and hedging that basket requires an implicit bet on the future shape and slope of the yield curve. Such bets can either be better or worse and, needless to say, so far this year these ETFs hedges havent been perfect. You should also know that there is another way in which these rate-hedged ETFs can lose money: Through the default of the companies issuing the bonds the funds own. While that hasnt been a factor in these ETFs year-to-date losses, it certainly could become one in the event of an economic downturn. This is a particular risk for the rate-hedged high-yield ETFs, of course. Its also important to acknowledge that rate-hedged ETFs are also hedged against falling interest rates. Thats because, with such ETFs, you know going in that you are forfeiting the gain youd otherwise realize from falling rates in order to immunize yourself from the loss caused by higher rates. I say this because its not as obvious as you might think that rates are headed higher. As I discussed in a Retirement Weekly column last February, after adjusting for inflation and taxes, current interest rates are right in the middle of the historical distribution. One lesson you might draw from this is that interest rates have just as much probability of falling from current levels as rising. If so, then hedging your interest rate exposure might not be as important as you otherwise think. Still, its good to know that, in the event you do think rates are headed higher, rate-hedged ETFs provide a potentially effective way of reducing your losses. For more information, including descriptions of the Hulbert Sentiment Indices, go to The Hulbert Financial Digest or email [email protected]. | https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-have-rate-hedged-bond-etfs-protected-retirees-2018-12-17?siteid=rss&rss=1 |
Should we really wait until age 70 to receive Social Security benefits? | Everyone knows that you should defer receiving Social Security benefits until age 70. The Social Security Administration trust fund is currently projected to run out of money in 15 years, and if no changes are made before then, in 2034 will be able to pay just 77% of scheduled benefits. There are at least two reasons to revisit this perennial question today. One is that Laurence Kotlikoff, a Boston University economics professor, recently took issue with my column on this subject. Another is that, given that the midterms have produced an even more gridlocked Congress, the already-slim chances of a solution to the eventual Social Security funding shortfall have become even more remote. My column on this subject, you may recall, focused on an analysis by Richard Band, the then-editor of Richard Bands Profitable Investing newsletter. Band had just decided to begin receiving Social Security benefits at 66 rather than following the conventional wisdom of waiting until 70. Taking Bands lead, I showed that, under certain assumptions about how the Federal government will handle its Social Security obligations, the present value of a retirees future Social Security benefits is higher if he begins receiving benefits at age 66 than at age 70. Band wrote: If you believe that Uncle Sam, saddled with a $20 trillionand rapidly risingnational debt, will keep his Social Security promises flawlessly, you might as well wait until age 70 to take your benefits (assuming youre in normal health). Because he was skeptical, however, Band decided to take the money and run. Kotlikoffs analysis used different assumptions than I used in my earlier column and, not surprisingly, reached different conclusions. One big difference is that I assumed that Social Security would begin reducing benefits gradually before 2034, rather than waiting until then and facing a 23% cut in benefit payments. To the extent cuts occur earlier rather than later, of course, those cuts will have a bigger impact on the present value of all future payments. The gradual cuts I put into my analysis were that benefits would be cut 0.5% a year starting in 2023. The start date of those cuts is arbitrary, of course, but the notion of such cuts is very much being considered. Some in Congress, for example, are proposing that there be a change to how the Social Security Administration calculates annual cost of living increases, the impact of which would be to lower the annual COLA by an estimated half a percentage point a year. Another assumption that has a big impact on whether or not to begin receiving Social Security at 66 or 70 is the rate at which future payments are reduced in order to represent their present value. To the extent this rate, known as the discount rate, is larger, then future years payments will be deemed to be worth lessand taking Social Security earlier becomes the preferred course of action. In my January column I assumed the discount rate would be equal to the yield on the 10-year Treasury, which at the time was about a half percentage point higher than the inflation rate. Ive been unable to determine the discount rate used by the software on Kotlikoffs website, but many software packages assume that the discount rate is the same as inflation. If so, then my assumption of a higher discount rate would be another reason my analysis found that it might be better to begin receiving benefits earlier rather than later. To be sure, Kotlikoff is entirely reasonable in basing his analysis on the assumption that there will be no cuts until 2034. Given the gridlock in Washington, its certainly possible that no changes to Social Securitys funding will get enacted before then, which is the point at which current law would mandate a 23% cut in benefit payments. Likewise, reasonable people can and do disagree on what is the proper discount rate. (Click here for a long and thoughtful discussion by retirement guru Michael Kitces on what discount rate to use in retirement planning.) But the existence of such disagreements between reasonable people just reinforces my broader point: The question of when to begin receiving Social Security is not as settled as many assume it to be. Dont let the apparent precision of the numerical conclusions reached by various analyses (including mine!) cause you to overlook the crucial and dominant role played by those analyses assumptions. For more information, including descriptions of the Hulbert Sentiment Indices, go to The Hulbert Financial Digest or email [email protected]. | https://www.marketwatch.com/story/should-we-really-wait-until-age-70-to-receive-social-security-benefits-2018-12-18?siteid=rss&rss=1 |
Is Glenn Maxwell the Big Show or a no-show? | No one can question Glenn Maxwells prodigious cricket talent since he came onto the ODI scene back in 2012. He can hit the ball to all parts, is a dynamic fieldsman and his batting strike rate is among the best in this form of the game. Maxwells performances in the series which finished in Melbourne must be considered disappointing, considering the opportunities he had to really make a mark on the series. Many were complaining he was batting too low at seven and after the first game, which Australia won, the calls were out for him to move up the order when he was left to face five balls for 11 runs. Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share He was then given two golden opportunities to bat through to the innings end in both the second and third games and blew both chances. In the second game he batted from the 37th to the 47th over and when he was really needed in Game 3, only batted from the 30th to the 35th over. Throw in a dropped catch that stemmed from a complete lack of concentration and its hard to find a player who had a more adverse effect on the series outcome. Maxwell has copped a raw deal, many would argue, which has affected his cricket, but if you look at his stats for the past 14 games when hes played, he probably has no-one to blame but himself. His innings totals are 20, 39, 14, 5, 34, 62, 31, 19, 11, 15, 35, 11, 48 and 26. One fifty in that time is an extremely poor return for a guy with this much ability. There were no doubt occasions when he had no time to get in and make runs, but as the last two ODIs showed, when he has had the chances theyve been squandered. Hes also bowled the odd over during these 14 games and has been underwhelming in that department as well; 25 overs one for 159 at 6.36 per over, so hes neither economical or penetrative in his limited opportunities. When his efforts are combined, they make for sad reading, especially when Australia has only won two of these 14 games. Advertisement Advertisement Opening or number four would probably suit his method, which is to get runs rapidly, hence his strike rate. It also doesnt matter whether hes out cheaply because hell also be out quickly, meaning the rest of the side can pick up the pieces. I think Maxwells had his turn and been found consistently wanting. He seems very much like Shaun Marsh great talent which occasionally shines, but more often than not fails to help the team win games. Both have had their time, SM in Tests and Maxwell in ODIs. Maxwell will be 31 this year and should probably focus on the T20 circuits where his strike rate and ridiculous shot making really do make him a Big Show. | https://www.theroar.com.au/2019/01/20/is-glenn-maxwell-the-big-show-or-a-no-show/ |
Why hasnt Sydney held aloft the NRC toaster rack trophy? | The National Rugby Championship (NRC) has a trophy dubbed the toaster rack for its resemblance to the good old-fashioned humble kitchen appliance. Since its inception, Queensland has dominated the National Rugby Championship (NRC) with Brisbane City and Queensland Country taking out three of the titles. Western Australia has also won a title. More recently Fiji held the rack aloft and are the reigning champions. The University of Canberra Vikings has twice been the bridesmaids, but never the bride. NSW Country made the final in 2016. Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share 2014: Brisbane City defeated Perth Spirit. 2015: Brisbane City defeated University of Canberra Vikings. 2016: Perth Spirit (now Western Force) defeated NSW Country Eagles. 2017: Queensland Country defeated University of Canberra Vikings. 2018: Fijian Drua defeated Queensland Country. Looking at these results, a question springs to mind. A Drua is double-hull sailing board hailing from Fiji. Unlike other boats, Druas dont tack, they shunt. Pretty good moniker for Fiji when you think about it. Creative. Powerful. Sails fully of heart and spirit. It is fair to say, there hasnt been much success in the NRC for teams hailing from Sydney. In the inaugural tournament, NSW went with four teams; NSW Country Eagles and three from Sydney; Greater Sydney Rams, North Harbour Rays, and the Sydney Stars. By comparison, Queensland concentrated talent into two teams; Brisbane City and Queensland Country. NSW now follows the successful Queensland Country v City approach and NSW team numbers have reduced from four (2014) to two teams, NSW Country Eagles and the Sydney Rays. Well, they didnt exactly hold the toaster rack aloft. Instead, they brought home another bit of kitchenware. One to help stirring scrambled eggs and mixing cakes. The kitchenware is a spoon and it is wooden. There are a few things at play. The introduction of Fiji in 2017 was a rightful hat tip to Fiji from Rugby Australia. Off the back of their NRC win, Fiji are now part of Twiggy Forrests Global Rapid Rugby. Fiji will also be a threat in Australias pool match at the upcoming Rugby World Cup. In 2018, Fiji took the NRC title, that said in all fairness, the Pacific Nation does have a concentration of talent, making it more difficult for Australian teams such as Sydney to win the competition. Another fact has worked against Sydney teams. Rightly or wrongly, NSW Waratahs dominate the Wallaby line up, and the Wallaby squad generally do not play NRC. It seems the worse a state performs in Super Rugby, the better they perform in the NRC. The logic is poorly performing Super Rugby teams have the next highest talent available for NRC. Then there is the impact of the crowd. It took a bit of correlation work, but here it is. The best to worst supported NRC teams from the 2018 competition (source Wikipedia, 2018). Fiji (average 5300 per game) 5000 Fiji v Melbourne. Ratu Cakobau Park, Nausori 6000 Fiji v Brisbane. Churchill Park, Lautoka. 5000 Fiji v Canberra. Churchill Park, Lautoka. 5000 Fiji v Canberra. Churchill Park, Lautoka. (Semi-Final) 5000 Fiji v QLD Country. Churchill Park, Lautoka. (Final) Western Force (average 4000 per game) 5000 Western Force v NSW Country Eagles. UWA Sports Park. Perth 2500 Western Force v Sydney Rays. UWA Sports Park. Perth. 4500 Western Force v Fiji. UWA Sports Park. Perth Advertisement Advertisement Brisbane City (average 3300 per game) 4500 Brisbane v Western Force. North Rugby Club. 3000 Brisbane v QLD Country. Sci Fleet Stadium Brisbane. 2500 Brisbane v Canberra. Bottomley Park, Brisbane. Queensland Country (average 1700 per game) 2000 QLD Country v Melbourne. Hugh St Rugby Grounds. Townsville. 1200 QLD Country v Fiji. BB Print Stadium Mackay 2000 QLD Country v Western Force. Bond Uni. Gold Coast 1000 QLD Country v Sydney Rays. Bond Uni. Gold Coast 2000 QLD Country v Western Force. Bond Uni. Gold Coast (Semi-Final) NSW Country (average 1500 per game) 1700 NSW Country v Melbourne. Glen Willow Stadium. Mudgee 2000 NSW Country v Canberra. Bellevue Oval. Armidale. 1000 NSW Country v Brisbane. Camden Rugby Club. Camden 1300 NSW Country v QLD Country. Scully Park. Tamworth. Melbourne Rising (average 1400 per game, with the best support in Adelaide) 2250 Melbourne v Brisbane. AA Bailey Reserve. Adelaide. 1500 Melbourne v Western Force. GMHBA Stadium. Geelong. 500 Melbourne v Sydney Rays. St Particks Oval. Ballarat. University of Canberra Vikings (average 1200 per game) 1000 Canberra v QLD Country. Viking Park. Canberra 2000 Canberra v Western Force. Viking Park. Canberra. 600 Canberra v Melbourne. Viking Park. Canberra. Sydney Rays (average 780 per game) 1100 Sydney v NSW Country. Leichhardt Oval. Sydney 750 Sydney v Canberra. Concord Oval. Sydney 500 Sydney v Brisbane. Woollahra Oval. Sydney 3500 Sydney v Fiji. Concord Oval. Sydney. It is true, that if a team performs poorly, supporters drop off. People like to watch their teams win. It is far more fun to win than to lose. The reverse can also be true: if no-one supports the players, the players passion and energy can wane. The crowd factor is neutralised. By comparison (if numbers are correct) Fiji are the crowd pullers and the most watched team in the NRC. They literally have their Drua sails full, shunting through all opponents. Advertisement Advertisement Before people get carried away about crowds, first consider the primary purpose of the NRC to date. To provide a tier two competition to provide the player pipeline bridge between Super Rugby and Club Rugby. A compliment to the competition is it has not forgotten the rugby towns around Australia, the game has been taken to the people. That said surely the 2018 Round 1, Sydney City v Country fixture at the Leichhardt Oval should have drawn a greater crowd than 1,100. Now consider reports in 2017 of a crowd in the vicinity of 15,000 flocking to Manly Oval to see Manly take on the Warringah Rats, and reports suggest 20,000 grand final attendance for the Warringah Rats verse the North Suburbs of the Shute Shield. Looking to 2019, many Rugby faithful from Sydney will travel to the World Cup. Historically the lowest crowds for the NRC were in the 2015 World Cup year, and 2019 is a World Cup year. Sydney crowds may drop even lower yet in 2019. The Rays did, after all, win the now-defunct Australian Rugby Championship in 2007 before a crowd of 1800 at Bluetongue Central Coast Stadium. Leave comments below. | https://www.theroar.com.au/2019/01/20/why-hasnt-sydney-held-aloft-the-nrc-toaster-rack-trophy/ |
Will the Barty party continue into the quarter-finals? | Tonight, Ashleigh Barty will face the biggest test of her career thus far when she comes up against Maria Sharapova in the fourth round of the Australian Open, with a berth in the quarter-finals up for grabs. While Australias Davis Cup team continues to be mired in controversy, the 22-year-old Barty has continued to impress the fans at Melbourne Park, backing up her recent run to the final at last weeks Sydney International by reaching the fourth round of her national Grand Slam for the first time. And she has done it with minimal fuss dismissing Luksika Khumkum, Wang Yafan and Maria Sakkari in straight sets to set up the showdown against 2008 champion Sharapova, who produced arguably her best performance since returning from a 15-month doping suspension to oust defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in three sets. Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share With the match evenly poised in the deciding set, the 31-year-old broke midway through the final set to register a hard-fought victory over the 28-year-old Dane and advance to the last 16 for the first time since 2016. And while its still only early days, its proof that the Russian is far from a spent force in womens tennis, as many feared shed become. A run to the quarter-finals at the French Open, aided by the mid-tournament withdrawal of her career nemesis Serena Williams, was her best result at a major last year, while she also reached the fourth round of the US Open where she suffered her first defeat in a night match on Arthur Ashe Stadium. However, it was the second time in three years whereby she went through the whole season without winning a title. Still, Sharapova will pose a serious hurdle in Ashleigh Bartys bid to become the first Australian woman since Jelena Dokic in 2009 to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and reach a major quarter-final for the first time in her career. Advertisement Advertisement Barty will have her work cut out for her, as Sharapova has an unblemished record against Australians at Grand Slam level. This includes defeating Samantha Stosur twice at Roland Garros, in 2014 and 2015. Additionally, the Russian defeated Barty in their only previous meeting, in Rome last year, while they were also supposed to have met at the 2014 Brisbane International, only for the Queenslander to withdraw due to injury. Whoever wins will face either Petra Kvitova, who defeated Barty to win her second Sydney title last week or exciting young American Amanda Anisimova, who turned heads with her stunning straight-sets thrashing of eleventh seed Aryna Sabalenka. At just 17 years of age, Anisimova is the first player born in the 21st century to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament, and there will be no reason for her to fear facing eighth seed Kvitova, given she did beat the left-handed Czech at Indian Wells last year. Those two matches are only part of what is expected to be a bumper Sunday at the Australian Open; in the mens draw, rising Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas will come up against his idol, Roger Federer, in a likely evening match on Rod Laver Arena, while Tomas Berdych and Rafael Nadal will also renew acquaintances in their first meeting for four years. | https://www.theroar.com.au/2019/01/20/will-the-barty-party-continue-into-the-quarter-finals/ |
Is John Morris too nice to coach the Sharks? | John Morris was one of those unsung-hero types throughout his NRL career. A Scone boy, he started his career at the Knights in 2001, but with a couple of blokes named Andrew Johns and Danny Buderus ahead of him as the clubs respective halfback and hooker, he made the move to Parramatta ahead of the 2003 season. After 92 games with the Eels, he moved to the Tigers and played 72 games on the trot between 2007 and 09. Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Reddit Email Share (In fact, he ended up playing 117 games straight for the Eels, Tigers and then Cronulla. ) His final years were spent at the Sharks, the only club where he managed to chalk up a century of games, in a career that netted exactly 300 first-grade appearances. The magic 300 club a milestone that only a handful have achieved. Along the way, he played every position on the park, bar prop a great indicator of someone with a firm team first attitude. And throughout it all, Morris just quietly went about his business. Never the most talented player, he instead had a great work ethic and squeezed every last drop of talent out of himself. All of which is to say hes exactly the kind of player who ends up making for a great coach. Advertisement Advertisement So while his promotion at Cronulla may have come earlier than expected, as a result of Shane Flanagans deregistration, its no great surprise to see Morris getting a head coaching gig in the NRL. But I wonder whether this is the right fit for him. Having been part of the coaching set up at Cronulla since his retirement in 2014, Morris knows the club, its players and systems as well as anyone. He also, surely, knows its attitude. With Flanagan and Paul Gallen setting the tone, the Sharks have spent the past four or so years since the fiasco that was their ASADA-plagued 2014 season with a serious chip on their shoulders. Andrew Fifita is the ultimate rugby league enigma he has the patience of a four-year-old, the temperament of a 14-year-old, the gut of 44-year-old, and hes one of the best props in the world. His attitude simply wouldnt be tolerated anywhere else, yet even when he pointed directly at the coaches box and gave them a mouthful midway through a game last season, Flanagan and his staff were happy for him to suit up again the following week. Wade Graham is lauded for his cunning and guile, is in the top-tier of best ball-playing backrowers and has certainly come a long way off the field since his Im not here to paint a fking picture heyday. But hes still the bloke who cheated on a coin toss and laughed about it later. Flanagan seemed to think so, saying Graham was simply too smart for them. I dont think I really need to go rattle off Paul Gallens rap sheet suffice to say its lengthy. Yet Gallen, Graham and Fifita are the three men that Flanagan puts forward as his captains his teams leaders on a weekly basis. The proof is in the pudding this pride in grubbiness has paid massive dividends, the Sharks having played finals footy every year since 2015 and famously bringing home a first-ever grand final victory in 2016. By not only endorsing but encouraging a fk you attitude, Flanagan took the Sharks from ASADA-smashed wooden spooners to perennial title threats. Clearly, its what works for the players at the club. Sports opinion delivered daily Advertisement Advertisement But will it work for John Morris? Sure, he spent the last five years of his playing career in the Shire, but that was a time of flux, with four coaches in charge during that period Morris actually wrapped up during James Shepherds brief tenure. The present attitudes were hardly set. And yes, hes been a loyal lieutenant to Flanagan, but an assistant coach rarely sets the tone. In fact, its generally seen as a better idea for the assistant to be a completely different kind of coach to the head honcho it helps for the boss to occasionally be offered a different point of view. Furthermore, Morris is never going to succeed trying to be Flanno-lite and he surely knows that. He needs to be his own man. I just wonder whether hes got the personality to get this club to fire. Whether hes sufficiently scum-bag enough to get a team full of grubs to play at their bastardly, brilliant best. In the simplest of terms, whether this goodie can get a team of baddies to win. While I struggle to root for the Sharks, I want to get behind Johnny Morris. But I worry that a clash of personalities will see him end up as a one-season wonder. | https://www.theroar.com.au/2019/01/20/is-john-morris-too-nice-to-coach-the-sharks/ |
Could UT Vols basketball be nation's new No. 1 team in Associated Press poll? | CLOSE Tennessee faces Alabama on Saturday. Mike Wilson, USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee Moments before Tennessee tipped off against Alabama on Saturday, the door opened for the Vols to become the nation's No. 1 team Monday. Wisconsin handed No. 2 Michigan its first loss of the season, then the No. 3 Vols survived an upset bid from Alabama to be in position to possibly obtain the top ranking in the Associated Press poll for the second time in program history after the top two teams lost. Duke, which lost to Syracuse 95-91 in overtime this week, faces No. 4 Virginia at 6 p.m. ET Saturday. The winner of that matchup will be the other contender the for No. 1 spot. UT also is No. 3 in the USA TODAY coaches poll, which has Virginia ranked No. 1 and Duke No. 2. The Vols reached the No. 1 AP ranking once in the 2007-08 season, but lost their next game at Vanderbilt. UT has been ranked No. 3 for the past six weeks. Before this season, Tennessee had spent three weeks in program history ranked in the top three of the AP poll. All three came in the 2007-08 season. Tennessee reached the No. 3 ranking this season after beating then-No. 1 Gonzaga in early December. The Vols haven't lost since then, holding the spot throughout the remainder of the month. Their lone loss came to No. 5 Kansas on Nov. 23 in the NIT Season Tip-Off in Brooklyn. Tennessee guard Jordan Bowden (23) celebrates a call during the second half of Tennessee's home SEC conference game against Alabama at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville on Saturday, January 19, 2019. (Photo: Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel ) Tennessee opened the season ranked No. 6, then rose to No. 5 after two weeks. UT opened with blowouts against Lenoir-Rhyne and Louisiana. It then won hard-fought games against Georgia Tech and Louisville before falling to Kansas 87-81 in overtime and dropping to No. 6. The Vols won two more blowouts after losing to Kansas, but slipped to No. 7 after Michigan rose to No. 5. They jumped to No. 3 after beating former No. 1 Gonzaga and have won 12 in a row since that upset. The Vols debuted at No. 6 in the AP poll this season, trumping their previous high preseason ranking of No. 7 entering the 2007-08 season. The Vols received one first-place vote in the preseason vote. | https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/mens-basketball/2019/01/19/tennessee-vols-basketball-rick-barnes-associated-press-poll-ranking-no-1-alabama/2575108002/ |
Is Chiyangwa behind board divisions? | Langton Nyakwenda ZIFA president Felton Kamambo admits there are sharp divisions within the newly elected board but insists he will stick to the constitution as the football mother body grapples with an internal strife triggered by the suspension of vice president Gift Banda. Banda was suspended by the Zifa board last Wednesday for violating the associations constitution when he unilaterally fired Warriors assistant coaches Lloyd Mutasa and Rahman Gumbo before replacing the duo with Bongani Mafu and Tonderai Ndiraya. The Banda issue was put to vote in Wednesdays emergence board meeting with four members voting for Bandas suspension, three opted for a reprisal while one board member voted for no action to be taken against the former Njube Sundowns owner. Philemon Machana, Chamu Chiwanza, Sugar Chagonda, Barbra Chikosi, Farai Jere, Brighton Malandule and Kamambo attended that board meeting which also overturned Bandas appointments and reengaged the duo of Mutasa and Gumbo. Subsequently, cracks have emerged within the board amid claims that some board members are still aligned to the previous dispensation. Kamambo is aware of the divisions and has vowed that he will not hesitate to use constitutional means to deal with anyone bent on sabotaging the new boards efforts to move the game forward. Kamambo has been preaching the gospel of good corporate governance and adherence to the associations constitution ever since he dethroned Philip Chiyangwa in an election held last December. But this latest crisis could prove a huge test for Kamambo whose leadership capacity has also come under the spotlight ahead of Zimbabwes crunch African Cup of Nations qualifier against Congo-Brazzaville on March 22. The Warriors technical team is not happy with Bandas actions while the board is cracking over the vice presidents suspension. Its normal to have divisions within the board because we didnt campaign on the same team prior to the elections. But it is also up to me as the Zifa president to unite this board, Kamambo told The Sunday Mail. When I was elected Zifa president I said bygones should be bygones but if there are people standing in the way then we will not hesitate to use the right channels to deal with them. The previous ZIFA administration played its part but its now in the past, people should allow our board to operate efficiently, Banda is contesting the boards decision and will issue a statement on Tuesday. Kamambos predecessor Chiyangwa, who is still the president of Cosafa, told The Sunday Mail he was too senior to meddle in Zifa issues. I do not meddle in Football Association issues, remember I am a president of 14 Football Associations and have no time to meddle with Zifa. We played our part, we had our own successes so I urge people to give Kamambo his chance, said Chiyangwa. Kamambo has made it clear he has no problems with Chiyangwa and even paid the former ZIFA president a courtesy call a few days after his election last December. The 48-year-old Kamambo insists the decision to suspend Banda was done above board despite the possibility of a constitutional loophole in the process. Everything was done above board, it was an emergence meeting and there were three items on the agenda namely national team coaches, standardization of referees and preparations for the AFCON game. The board members deliberated on the issues and we then agreed that as the board we couldnt ratify changes made by Banda because they were done unconstitutionally. During the process some board members questioned why VP Banda made those appointments without consultations and those board members felt it was a breach of the constitution. At the same time it was agreed that the hiring and firing of national coaches by an individual was tantamount to sabotage. It was then agreed that we put the matter to vote and there were three options namely no action, reprimand and suspension. Four voted for Bandas suspension, two voted for his reprisal while one voted for no action to be taken. People should view this decision in a positive light, its a signal to the corporate world that we want to be professional, revealed Kamambo. We have suspended the VP (Gift Banda), that issue is now in the past, we want to move on and concentrate on football and I am sure football will win at the end of the day. We dont want to go to the last AFCON qualifier against Congo a divided lot. Right now the Warriors technical team is not happy following their temporary dismissal and we have had to meet Sunday Chidzambwa and his team (Mutasa and Gumbo) to assure them of our support. The Head Coach promised to pay us back by qualifying for the AFCON finals. They also want to make history by reaching the quarterfinals should they qualify for the finals. We will also want to engage with those who had been appointed (Mafu and Ndiraya) and offer our apologies, added Kamambo. Like this: Like Loading... | https://www.thezimbabwedaily.com/news/306031-is-chiyangwa-behind-board-divisions.html |
Could 2019 be the year Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift kiss and make up? | Kim Kardashian West has officially put her feud with Taylor Swift behind her. Just days after insisting that she had "moved on" from her past conflict with Taylor, Kim shared a video of herself on Snapchat, listening to Taylor's song 'Delicate'. The pair had a very public feud in 2016, after Kim leaked edited clips of a phone call between her husband Kanye West and Taylor in order to prove her claims that Taylor had approved Kanye's lyrics about her in his song 'Famous'. However, Taylor, 29, hit back insisting Kanye never told her he was planning to call her "that bitch" in his song. Advertisement She fumed: "You don't get to control someone's emotional response to being called 'that bitch' in front of the entire world. He promised to play the song for me, but he never did." I made that bitch famous." Taylor went on to hit out at Kim and Kanye on her album 'Reputation's lead single, 'Look What You Made Me Do', which features a number of apparent digs at the pair. Taylor slammed someone for their "tilted stage", something Kanye had during his 'Saint Pablo' tour in 2016, when she sang: "I don't like your little games/ Don't like your tilted stage/ The role you made me play/ Of the fool/ No, I don't like you." Earlier this week, during an appearance on 'Watch What Happens Live', Kim insisted she was "over it", after being asked about the feud. When host Andy Cohen asked: "Kim, you and Taylor Swift still a beef with Taylor after all that went down?," she replied: "Over it, I feel like we've all moved on." -Bang! Showbiz | https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12193293 |
Can the Saints limit Rams star Aaron Donald as well as they did in Week 9? | Whether it takes one, two or three players to block Aaron Donald, the New Orleans Saints have to do whatever it takes to keep the Los Angeles Rams All-Pro defensive tackle away from quarterback Drew Brees, left tackle Terron Armstead said. The Saints did well to limit Donalds impact when these teams played in Week 9, but he had one tackle for loss, a pass defensed and a fumble recovery. Donald also finished with four quarterback hits, three of which helped produce incomplete passes. Still, the Saints held Donald without a sack, and that could be a harbinger for success against the Rams defense. Los Angeles is 18-0 the past two seasons when Donald has at least one sack, compared to 5-7 in games when he doesnt produce a sack. One of those losses came in Week 9 when the Saints beat the Rams, 45-35. We just worked well together, Saints right guard Larry Warford said. He was still a problem, for sure. Hes the best D-tackle in the league, hands down. We had a great plan, and we just trusted each other, trusted the plan, worked well together and definitely limited that pass rush. Because they have one of the best pass rushes in the league, you have to take care of that to win a game against them. Saints will rout the Rams and reach the Super Bowl. Here are 5 reasons why. Blocking Donald could be tougher this time as the Saints offensive line has not been playing as well as it did in the first 10 games of the season. In the divisional round, the Saints struggled at times to block the Eagles defensive line, particularly the interior duo of Fletcher Cox and Haloti Ngata. Saints left guard Andrus Peat, in particular, had a rough game, but hell be another week removed from his hand surgery, which could help him return to form. The Saints gave up two sacks last Sunday against the Eagles, but they didnt allow any in the second half. During the regular season, the Saints allowed 18 sacks, second fewest in the NFL. Going against Donald and Ndamukong Suh, however, is a tougher challenge than most matchups. Its hard to say youre going to keep him in check, Saints coach Sean Payton said of Donald. Hes played as well at that three-technique position as weve seen in years. Hes the best defensive player today in football (with) his numbers, his production. It shows up in the run game, it shows up in the passing game, and its a challenge. 'Fuel to the fire': Visit the Los Angeles high school where Michael Thomas found his edge Donald finished 2018 as the league leader with 20.5 sacks and 25 tackles for loss, and his ability to slow the run game is something the Saints need to protect against, too. Saints fullback Zach Line said he typically runs through holes cleanly because of the prowess of the offensive line, but he knows Donald is savvy enough to set up his moves to pounce when least expected, which might make it important for Line or other non-linemen to chip him whenever possible. Warford said Donald is so good that he usually has a plan while also knowing the offensive lines plan, which helps him be even more disruptive. Hes a guy you have to know where hes at at all times, Saints backup offensive tackle Jermon Bushrod said. You dont get 20.5 sacks on accident. He has to have hands on him at all times, and when things arent done the way that we need to, he can cause problems. The Saints hope to have similar success blocking Donald as they did in Week 9, but everyone on the team knows thats easier said than done. Were not going out to try to necessarily replicate what we did, Armstead said. Its a different game. Im sure hell have his own plan in place. We just have to execute ours. At the end of the day, its not one-on-one. Its 11-on-11, our whole offense versus their whole defense. We just have to go out and execute each man doing their job, so we can come out with the win. | https://www.nola.com/saints/2019/01/can-the-saints-limit-rams-star-aaron-donald-as-well-as-they-did-in-week-9.html |
Why do we buy what we buy? | | Column Last Updated: January 16, 2019 at 9:34 am Consumerism fascinates me. I like gel ink pens. A Bic ballpoint does the same job for less money, but I love my Pilots. A friend likes funky socks; she never has a pen when she needs one, but her feet are fierce. Im not sure I own a matching pair of socks. Priorities, people. Recently USA today ran an article about what people buy most online at Wal-Mart, state by state. (Sadly, its not Sarah Lee low-sodium deli-sliced turkey; I have to actually buy that in person, and stand in line with 75 other people being served by two cashiers.) The Wal-Mart survey was kind of a head-scratcher: Idaho residents bought refills for Easy-Bake Oven. (I wish I still had mine.) A 15 Dell laptop. Nevada residents seared their lips with Flamin Hot Cheetos. Iowa, Hawaii, Utah and Arkansas residents love them some Instant-Pots, Colorado folks bought inflatable air mattresses. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Massachusetts folks stocked up on paper towels, and Vermonters love Del Monte creamed corn. The two most popular on-line purchases in America were the Ozark Trail 20-Ounce Tumbler and Crayola crayons. Ill end the suspense: South Carolina bought the tumblers. ), and my North Carolina peeps bought the most mayonnaise. Im a native of the Tar Heel State, and never knew mayo was a thing. Economists say you can tell a lot of about people by what they spend money on. I spend a fortune on my teeth, so I must like to chew. I have a great dentist, but shelling out $4,000 in a year (for an extraction, crown and implant) stings, no matter how much lidocaine is used. Im starting to understand people who lose a tooth and just carry on. Then theres my gym membership, makeup and phone bill. (I started paying for my phone when my husband, Widdle Baby, refused to increase my data plan. I showed him.) I also drop a wad at the dermatologist, and thats all Ill say about that. I buy books, magazines, paintings and one high-quality purse that I plan to be buried with. Widdle splashes out on groceries. He impulsively buys, say, a quart of oxtail soup, takes one sip and puts it asideunless Im actually standing at his elbow, foaming at the mouth. Then he makes a big show of putting it in Tupperware for later. We both know later never comes. Were in sync on a lot of things, but not our spending habits. I dont believe in buying new cars. My motto is, drive em til the wheels fall off. This makes Widdle crazy. Me: No car payments, yay! Widdle: My wife drives an old beater, aarrgh! He buys his clothes retail. I stalk every resale shop, thrift store and consignment boutique within 30 miles. It takes time and gas, but when you score an $80 pair of designer pants for $4, bingo! I always vote for budget motels when we travelwere only there to sleep!but Widdle flatly refuses, which has probably saved us from bedbugs more than once. The good news is, wed both rather save than spend, and think travel is a better investment than gifts, so theres that. Besides, money cant buy love. (Julie S. Hoff, who really racks up overdue library fines, can be reached at [email protected].) | http://walterborolive.com/2019/01/why-do-we-buy-what-we-buy/ |
Will My Retirement Fund Withdrawals Affect My Social Security Benefits? | Social Security is a government-created program designed to provide a source of continuous income to retirees, but what most people don't know is that if you earn more than a certain amount, the government will take some of that money back in the form of a benefit tax. This means retirees need to be strategic about how much they withdraw from their retirement accounts so that they don't accidentally cost themselves money. Below, I'll explain how your retirement fund withdrawals could affect your Social Security benefits and what you can do about it. How your income affects your Social Security benefits If your "combined income" -- a Social Security Administration figure that I'll explain below -- is above a certain threshold, then up to 85% of your Social Security benefits could be taxed as income. The combined-income threshold varies by marital status. Beneficiaries with a combined income over $25,000 and married couples filing jointly with a combined income of more than $32,000 could be taxed on up to 50% of their benefits. Individuals with a combined income over $34,000 and couples with a combined income over $44,000 could be taxed on up to 85% of their benefits. Mature couple evaluating finances More Image source: Getty Images. Your combined income is calculated based on three figures: your adjusted gross income, any nontaxable interest you've earned and half of your Social Security benefits. Your adjusted gross income is the total amount of taxable income you earn in a year, minus certain adjustments, such as half of any self-employment taxes, alimony payments, or contributions to retirement accounts. Your AGI does include withdrawals from traditional retirement accounts -- including traditional 401(k)s and IRAs -- but it doesn't include withdrawals from Roth accounts, because contributions to these accounts are taxed up front. You may have nontaxable interest if you have tax-exempt bond funds in your investment portfolio. Once you have this information, you just add up the numbers to figure out your combined income. So if you withdraw $25,000 from your traditional retirement accounts, you have $2,000 in nontaxable interest, and you're getting $12,000 per year from Social Security, your combined income would be $33,000: $25,000 + $2,000 + 1/2($12,000) = $33,000 Remember that if your combined income exceeds one of the taxation thresholds above, that doesn't mean you'll be taxed on the full amount. There's a special formula that determines how much tax you'll actually pay on your benefits. This can be complicated to figure out on your own, but fortunately there are Social Security tax calculators that can do the work for you. How to avoid being taxed on your Social Security benefits The simplest way to avoid Social Security benefit taxation is to be mindful of how much you're withdrawing from your retirement accounts each year. If you're close to one of the taxation thresholds, you could try to withdraw a little less than you planned to avoid the tax. But if you regularly find yourself bumping up against the limit, you may have to make some adjustments. It's typically best to delay distributions from your Roth IRA as long as possible so that it can continue to grow tax-free, but there are times when you may want to tap it sooner. If you're close to the Social Security taxation thresholds listed above, consider taking more money from Roth accounts and less from traditional accounts. This could lower your combined income enough to avoid Social Security benefit taxes while still providing enough income to cover your living expenses. And if you're not yet retired, consider investing through a Roth-type account -- or even rolling over some existing savings from a traditional account to a Roth account -- to help you manage your taxes in retirement. Even if you cannot avoid paying taxes on some of your Social Security benefits, it still pays to understand how this works. You may be able to reduce your tax burden, and at the very least, you won't get a nasty surprise come tax time. More From The Motley Fool The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/retirement-fund-withdrawals-affect-social-230500996.html |
Is Mastercard a Buy? | Mastercard (NYSE: MA) had a stellar run in 2018. The stock was up 25% on the back of strong revenue and earnings growth due to rising electronic payment volumes around the globe. However, shares were up even more prior to an end-of-year correction due to mounting worries that economic growth is slowing. Though the global economy is cooling, that doesn't mean the investment thesis for Mastercard is dead. Shares look like a deal given the company's highly profitable model and the fast pace of digital transformation that is just beginning in many parts of the world. An elegantly simple business Mastercard is best known for its credit and debit cards, which are issued by banks and other financial partners. Mastercard itself isn't a lender or bank, though -- instead, the company earns a fee for clearing transactions and providing other related services. It's a simple business model, and not necessarily a new one, as plastic cards have been out since the 1950s. Nevertheless, it's an incredibly powerful business model. Revenue has been up in the low double-digits this year, but high profit margins on transaction clearing has led to even faster earnings growth. Metric Nine Months Ended September 30, 2018 Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 YOY Change Revenue $11.1 billion $9.2 billion 21% Adjusted operating profit margin 57.6% 55.7% 1.9 p.p. Adjusted earnings per share $4.94 $3.44 44% P.p. = percentage point. Data source: Mastercard. Though Mastercard isn't new, it's still a high-growth concern with plenty of room to run. Cash is still by far the most common transaction around the world, but digital transformation is making the use of plastic more common. Other services provided to banks and financial partners like analytics and security also help Mastercard embed itself into the lives of consumers and the financial industry overall. Economic growth and the increasing value of monetary payments also help Mastercard; a bigger economy generally means more card swipes and online purchases. The company's gross dollar volume (the total value of transactions cleared) was up 14% in both the first and second quarters of 2018, and increased 13% during the third quarter. A man with a tablet inputting credit card information. More Image source: Getty Images. Expensive but worth the money Though the story around cashless payments sounds promising, a 12-month trailing price to earnings ratio of 39.5 may keep many investors away from Mastercard stock. Paying for four decades'-worth of profit is certainly a premium price, but it doesn't tell the whole story. The more accurate 12-month trailing price to free cash flow -- money left over after basic operations and capital expenditures are paid for -- is only 33.7. When valuing a high-growth endeavor, though, the future is far more important. Due to its high profit margins, even small gains in revenue helps Mastercard's bottom line grow at an even faster pace. Thus, with cashless payments on the rise in many parts of the world -- propped up by a slow-and-steady expanding global economy -- the company's 12-month forward price to earnings is currently 26.0. That implies Wall Street analysts expect that profits will continue to grow at a similar clip as they have so far in 2018. Granted, those are just estimates that may or may not work out. However, consumer and business trends toward digital transactions bode well for Mastercard. Though it may not be the cheapest stock out there, solid growth makes shares look like a good value for the long-term after the pullback in late 2018. More From The Motley Fool Nicholas Rossolillo has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Mastercard. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/mastercard-buy-213300254.html |
Is iRobot a Buy? | Right now, when I say, "Alexa, mow the lawn," my Amazon smart speaker says, "I added 'mow the lawn' to your shopping list." So there are some things technology can't do...yet. But if you happen to have a new Wi-Fi enabled Roomba vacuum cleaner by iRobot (NASDAQ: IRBT), as well as an Amazon Echo -- and you've set it all up properly -- you can say, "Alexa, ask Roomba to start cleaning," and check vacuuming off your list of chores. And with an iRobot robotic lawn mower on the horizon, Alexa just might be able to mow my lawn soon. This all sounds amazing, but it may not be enough to earn iRobot a spot in your portfolio. Let's dig a little bit deeper to see if the robotic vacuum pioneer is a worthwhile investment. A gray cat with its paws on a robotic vacuum cleaner More Besides being a great cat toy, iRobot's best-selling robotic vacuums can integrate into smart-home systems. Image source: Getty Images. Not like the others iRobot is a small company that's making a big impact, but its balance sheet doesn't look like that of many tech start-ups. For one thing, there's no long-term debt. None. Since 2015, the company has been able to finance its growth and its extensive research and development efforts almost exclusively from its profits, while reducing its overall share count by 6%. The company's income statement also doesn't look like most manufacturers', considering its gross profit margin on a trailing-12-month basis is 50.5%. That's incredibly high for a manufacturer. Manufacturing companies often see profits eaten up by production costs. Whirlpool's gross margin, for example, is just 17%, while Hoover and Dirt Devil parent company Techtronic's is 37%. While many consumer appliance makers have struggled over the past year -- Whirlpool's stock, for example, is down 28.2% -- iRobot's is down only 4.3%, outperforming the S&P 500. That's thanks to some stellar performance that's led revenue and net income to move steadily higher throughout the year. The longer-term picture is even brighter: Over the past five years, iRobot has increased revenue and net income by 108.9% and 174.5%, respectively. But the company's biggest opportunities may lie ahead. The home of the future We're not quite living in an episode of The Jetsons, but there's no denying that the market for smart-home devices is not only growing quickly, but seeing rapid technological advances. According to eMarketer, domestic smart speaker usage is set to increase 15% year over year in 2019, partially as a result of their popularity as a Christmas gift item. That means about 74.2 million people -- roughly 27% of the U.S. population -- will have a smart speaker in their home. That's a lot, considering these devices didn't even exist a few years ago. But it's still a small enough number that there's plenty of room for the market to grow. In fact, research firm Strategy Analytics predicts that 1.94 billion smart-home devices will be sold in 2023, outpacing demand for smartphones. The Market Research Store estimates a total smart-home market of $163 billion by 2026. Of course, people with smart-home speakers aren't just going to use them to play music. They'll want to use them to vacuum and mop the floors, clean the pool, and mow the lawn. iRobot already offers robots that can do three of those four chores. As for the lawn mower, on the most recent earnings call, CEO Colin Angle would only say, "We remain committed to launching a lawnmower and I'll stop there. It's a...well, I'll stop there." | https://news.yahoo.com/irobot-buy-230000154.html |
Are board meetings open to the public? | Kelly Otte (Photo: Kelly Otte) Buy Photo Alyce Lee Stansbury (Photo: Democrat files) We received a question from a reader who wants to know if their nonprofit board meetings are required to be open to the general public. This is a complex issue so we reached out to Janeia D. Ingram, Esquire, to shed some light on this topic. She said, Generally speaking, most nonprofit organizations are private corporations, and therefore, are not required to be open. In fact, unless their bylaws or the state laws indicate otherwise, nonprofit board meetings are usually closed. While most nonprofits arent required to abide by open record laws, which in Florida are called sunshine laws, Janeia says, open meeting laws vary from state to state and generally apply to organizations that receive state or municipal funding, those that have a government appointee or official on the board, and those that perform a government function. Basically, sunshine laws affect organizations that are inextricably tied to the government. Were not attorneys but in the case of the reader who asked the question, her organization does not receive government funding, wasnt created by government and isnt performing the governments work so we do not believe they are required by law to allow someone to attend their meetings. However, if the organization is a membership organization then they need to refer to their bylaws regarding the rights of members. While most nonprofits do seek to provide as much transparency and accountability as they can, they also have an obligation to protect sensitive information, just like any other business. If its a donor that is requesting to attend the board meeting it would be good to direct them to the Association of Fundraising Professionals Donor Bill of Rights which helps to assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the general public and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the nonprofit organizations and causes, they are asked to support. Included in the 10 rights is the right to ask questions when making a donation, to be removed from mailing lists, and to have access to the organizations most recent financial statements. The Donor Bill of Rights does not include the right to attend board meetings. Download the Donor Bill of Rights at https://afpglobal.org/donor-bill-rights. Janeia points out the IRS imposes certain reporting requirements on nonprofits that enjoy federal tax exemption, such as the annual Form 990, which the IRS makes public. Many nonprofits make their 990s readily available on their website. Anyone can search for a charitable nonprofits 990s online at www.GuideStar.org. Aside from all that we encourage the organization to understand why the person or people are asking to attend their board meetings. If its adversarial and you have nothing to lose by opening the meeting to them you may want to consider doing it if its in the best interest of keeping the peace. If the person requesting attendance is disruptive, challenging to manage or will make it impossible for the board to conduct business then we think they should work diligently to address that persons concerns in a different format. Sometimes nonprofits have critics and competitors, just like other businesses, and legitimately need confidential spaces to make decisions for the business. Janeia D. Ingram (Photo: Special to the Democrat) In concluding that topic we want to reiterate that Alyce Lee and Kelly are not attorneys and that Janeia did not offer a legal opinion. Its always a good idea to consult an attorney if things are laden with conflict. Dates to remember Switching subjects, we want to make sure you have some dates on your calendar. Building Better Boards is a one evening mini conference for board members and staff hosted by Leadership Tallahassee (LT). This year it will be held May 7 so make sure you have it held. LT just released their Call for Presenters so if you are interested in submitting a workshop proposal go www.leadershiptallahassee.com. United Partners for Human Services has opened early registration for the 20th UPHS Conference for Excellence in Nonprofit Management and Leadership being held at Tallahassee Community College on May 15. We cant emphasize enough that this is a must attend event for everyone involved with the sector in any capacity. Were tickled the keynote speaker is Robert Eggers, a nationally known author and nonprofit professional who founded an advocacy organization that promotes the economic role that nonprofits play in every community. UPHS Executive Director Amber Tynan also announced they will award three Bob Powell Memorial Scholarships to deserving people. Bob Powell was a Partner at James Moore & Co., CPAs and long-time nonprofit advocate who passed away in July. We admired and appreciated Bob and are grateful UPHS is recognizing him this way. To be considered for one of the scholarships go to www.uphsfl.org for more information. The Institute of Nonprofit Innovation and Excellence released their catalog of 2019 programs and events. According to Executive Director Felina Martin the offerings this year follow four education tracks (Marketing, Fund Development, Volunteer Leadership and Team Development) that were created based on research and survey results from those leaders in the nonprofit sector. You can find the virtual catalog at www.theinstituteofnonprofits.org. We have no doubt that anyone can find a subject they are interested in. Alyce Lee Stansbury, CFRE, President of Stansbury Consulting and Kelly Otte, MPA, UPHS board member, co write and edit Notes on Nonprofits. We are grateful this week for the contributions of Janeia D. Ingram, Esquire. Janeia is the Chairwoman of INIE and a highly regarded nonprofit advocate. Read or Share this story: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/money/2019/01/19/board-meetings-open-public/2626247002/ | https://www.tallahassee.com/story/money/2019/01/19/board-meetings-open-public/2626247002/ |
How did Jake Patterson's life lead to Jayme Closs? | One question plays endlessly in the minds of people here along the rural roads deep in the North Woods. He was an ordinary, well-behaved kid, people here say. Teachers and classmates at his small country school described him as smart and quick-witted quiet, but not a loner. He had friends and was well-accepted among the 34 members of the Class of 2015 at Northwood School, most of whom had been together since kindergarten. He played video games, board games Risk was a favorite and devoured Tom Clancy spy novels. A friend said Jake T. Patterson, pictured here in a yearbook, never said anything about girls during his middle and high school years. Whatever the answer, it lies along the stretch of Hwy. 53 that runs roughly 100 miles from Barron, Wis., to the shores of Lake Superior. Its here that the 21-year-old Patterson spent most of his days, living in a series of small towns dotting the highway before settling in at his fathers remote cabin 9 miles east of Gordon. And its there, he told police, where he kept Jayme Closs imprisoned after fatally shooting her parents with a 12-gauge shotgun in their home just outside Barron back in October. Something just got stuck in his head, said James Moyer, Pattersons maternal grandfather. I cant imagine anybody thinking about this, let alone doing it. Living off the radar An hour north of the Closs home, the tiny town of Gordon, with a population of 645 residents, was not on our radar, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said in the hours after Jayme escaped Jan. 10 and Patterson was arrested. And if you want to stay off the radar, northwestern Wisconsin is a good place to be. A maze of two-lane rural roads, closely lined with tall pines, reaches deep into the wilderness off Hwy. 53. Homes and cabins are spaced far apart, often set back and hidden in the woods. People mind their own business here, community ties grow slowly. In Haugen, a village of about 270 residents some 45 miles south of Gordon and home to Pattersons mother, Deborah Frey, few noticed Jake when he visited. Its a very close-knit town, said one resident. If you havent been here three generations, people dont really know you. Frey, who drives a school bus for the nearby Rice Lake district, has lived in town only a short time, but locals know who she is by the bus thats sometimes parked in front of her home. Shes friendly. Shed wave when she went by, said Jim Hill, owner of the Village Grocery. Hill said last week that he didnt see Jake often, but remembers him stopping in the store occasionally for cigarettes. Marlboros, Hill said. Frey and Jakes father, Patrick Patterson, had a troubled marriage and divorced when Jake, the youngest of three children, was 11. Court records show that they filed for divorce in 2005, reconciled, then ended their marriage in 2008 after 19 years. The divorce decree provided scant details other than outlining the financial arrangements and joint child custody. Both parents were required to take a class titled Effects of Divorce on Children. Moyer said the divorce bothered Jake, like it would any kid. But hes not sure of the lasting impact. Jayme Closs. (FBI/TNS) ORG XMIT: 1246483 As Frey moved from one local town to another over the years, Jake began spending more time at his fathers home in Gordon, according to Victoria Fisher, whose son Dylan was a close friend of Jakes through middle school and high school. Dylan Fisher, who lives in nearby Minong, said he often went to the Patterson house to play Risk and other board games. His dad, brother and sister were at the house when I was there, Fisher said last week. Marine Corps washout Fisher said to his knowledge, Patterson never dated. In fact, he never discussed the topic. He never said anything [about girls], Fisher said. It never seemed to be a pressing concern. In his high school yearbook, Patterson said his plan after graduation was Marine Corps infantry. His senior quote: Im finally done with school. Three months after graduating, Patterson headed for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego. But he returned to Gordon after five weeks, a washout as a Marine Corps private. The character of his service was incongruent with Marine Corps expectations and standards, the Corps said in a statement last week. This is the home where Jake Patterson lived and from where Jayme Closs told police she escaped after being held captive for 88 days. It was a bitter experience, Pattersons grandfather said. It was profoundly disappointing when he didnt make it in the Marines, Moyer said. He had health issues. He wasnt able to hold up to the regimen. Asked what the health issues were, Moyer replied, It was internal. Once back home, Patterson distanced himself from his high school friends. Fisher said he tried several times to reach him in the months after graduation but never got a response. I havent talked to him in three years, Fisher said. Other classmates also were rebuffed. I wish I had known he was around, Fisher said. I wish I could have done something. He was a normal person. He had a sense of whats right and wrong. He was a good person. He laughed, he smiled, he cried. He wasnt an empty person. Mother is petrified Since her sons arrest more than a week ago, Frey hasnt left her home in Haugen, said Michael Bednar, who lives across the street. Shes petrified, said Bednar, adding that hes never seen or talked to Jake Patterson. Bednars wife, Susan, who has been walking Freys black Lab, said the mother feels terrible. She never saw any signs of violence. She feels bad that she didnt see it. Patrick Patterson apparently didnt see anything either although according to the criminal complaint filed in the case, he typically visited his son on Saturdays during the time Jayme was held captive at the house. Frey and her ex-husband have repeatedly declined media interviews. As Patrick Patterson stopped at the Barron County courthouse one morning last week, he told a CNN reporter, All I care about right now is Jaymes family. Fisher and others, meanwhile, say they have no idea how Jake got by. I dont know that he was even working, Moyer said. I think he was looking for work. He wasnt a real assertive person. He didnt have the drive to push those opportunities very hard. Several years ago, Patterson worked for one day at the Jennie-O Turkey Store in Barron, where Jaymes parents, Denise and James Closs, worked for years. Earlier last fall, he worked for two days at a cheese factory outside Almena, a small town about 8 miles west of Barron. It was on the way to that job one morning, he told police, that he spotted Jayme boarding a school bus, which set in motion his plan to kidnap the girl hed never seen before. And on the day that Jayme escaped from his house after 88 days in captivity, Patterson submitted a rsum and an online job application to a liquor wholesaler in Superior. On it, he described himself as an honest and hardworking guy. Not much work experience but I show up to work and am a quick learner. Not ordinary sad The carved wooden sign over the door of Pattersons house in Gordon reads Pattersons Retreat. In the driveway are six old and snow-covered vehicles that look as if they havent been driven in a long time. A battered snowmobile sits in the yard, along with the usual odds and ends that accumulate at a rural residence shovels, rakes, tools. Bits of rope and stacks of lumber. Theres a red, barn-shaped bird feeder hanging from a birch tree and a trampoline out back. The two-story home is worn, with peeling paint and a rusty security door with a broken lock. A wooden deck is strung with Christmas lights, a welcome mat is placed by the front door. Its here, Jake Patterson told police, where that he kept Jayme prisoner beneath a twin bed. And its here where the quiet life he once knew came to an end. Its profoundly sad. Its not ordinary sad, Moyer said softly. We lost our grandson, too. Its like a death. Said Fisher, Pattersons best friend: Ive been trying to figure it out, and I cant. Staff writers Brandon Stahl and Pam Louwagie contributed to this report. | http://www.startribune.com/how-did-jake-patterson-s-life-lead-to-jayme-closs/504601191/ |
Could Sammi Giancola Be Returning To Jersey Shore Soon? | When MTV announced the revival of its Jersey Shore series with a reunion special, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, fans hoped original cast member Samantha Sammi Sweetheart Giancola would return to the popular series but unfortunately, that wasnt the case. During the original series, Sammi and former roommate Ronnie Ortiz-Magro became entangled in a messy love affair. The two dated on and off for five years but their relationship had been filled with drama from the beginning and the pair eventually parted ways. Sammi has since moved on and is now dating fellow New Jersey native Christian Biscardi. After the initial announcement of the shows return, the former reality TV star took to Instagram to explain her reason for not wanting to be a part of the show. She told fans that shes not the same person she was back then and that shes trying to avoid potentially toxic situations, according to a 2018 report from TV Insider. And it looks like that hasnt changed. According to a recent report from Hollywood Life, a source close to Sammi revealed that she wants nothing to do with Jersey Shore but she is grateful for the friendships shes gained from being a part of the series. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Sammi reunited with the ladies of the cast to celebrate Deena Corteses baby shower. She later posted a photo of the event to her Instagram profile and referred to the women in the photo, Jenni JWoww Farley, Nicole Snooki Polizzi, Angelina Pivarnick, and Cortese, as a family. Its clear Sammis failed relationship with Ronnie has played a huge part in her decision to stay away from the MTV hit show. When she broke up with Ronnie, she decided it was time to move on with everything, the unnamed source told Hollywood Life. She realizes it helped her obtain some very amazing friendships and relationships and shes thankful for that and will leave it at that. She has no regrets, but her relationship with Ronnie and that break up for all to see hurt so badly so she just decided it was time to move on for good. Speaking of moving on, there is no shortage of cute couple photos of Sammi and new beau Biscardi. The couple has been dating since 2017, and Sammi is in a happy, healthy relationship with a man that she adores, another source reportedly revealed to Hollywood Life. As for Ronnie, the star has been in an on-again-off-again relationship with the mother of his child Jen Harley, as previously reported by the Inquisitr. | https://www.inquisitr.com/5257359/could-sammi-giancola-be-returning-to-jersey-shore-soon/ |
Why have there been so many suspected suicides at Bristol University? | The cubbyholes at the halls of residence are in alphabetical order. They are outside the admin office and on the way to the dining room. This is where 400 students collect their post. On May 5 last year, Ben Murray, a first-year student who lived in the halls, took his own life. Ten days later, his father, James Murray, visited postbox M, and found two envelopes. Both of them contained letters of dismissal from the University of Bristol. Both had been sent in February and remained unopened in May. One was for Ben. My Ben, says James. His son had failed to attend tutorials or hand in coursework, so he was asked to leave. If youre looking for the signs of someone not coping, says | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-have-there-been-so-many-suspected-suicides-at-bristol-university-kbg9mmwc3 |
Can Martin ONeill light up a Nottingham Forest fire? | As the Nottingham Forest manager Martin ONeill was winding up proceedings on his return to the City Ground on Thursday, I put it to him that perhaps it wasnt such a bad thing after all that he had been sacked as Republic of Ireland manager given he was now embarking on his managerial date with destiny at the City Ground. That is not strictly true because I was asked about this job a year ago, by the same owners. I wanted to stay with the Republic of Ireland, ONeill revealed ahead of yesterdays 1-0 home defeat by Bristol City. While an increase in salary to about 2m a year probably had a lot to do with that decision, ONeill clearly feels he was loyal to | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/can-martin-oneill-light-up-anottingham-forest-fire-dtlpvjh29 |
What Is DACA? | President Donald Trump on Saturday proposed to extend protections for individuals enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in exchange for $5.7 billion in funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. The Obama administration in June 2012 issued the DACA executive order after the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act did not pass in Congress several times. The young people affected by DACA and the DREAM Act are often referred to as "Dreamers." The executive order allowed some illegal and undocumented immigrants who had entered the country before their 16th birthday and before June 2007 to be exempted from deportation and to obtain renewable two-year work permits. Eligible persons must have lived continuously in the United States since 2007. They must be enrolled in school, have completed high school or the equivalent, or have been honorably discharged from military service. They must not have been convicted of a felony or a serious misdemeanor, or otherwise pose a threat to national security. In November 2014, DACA was expanded to include illegal immigrants who entered the country before 2010, and it eliminated the requirement that applicants be younger than 31. The Trump administration rescinded the DACA program in September 2017. On Friday, the last day the U.S. Supreme Court could accept an appeal and schedule arguments, it took no action on the administration's bid to end DACA, which means the program will likely survive until the fall, when the court again is in session. | https://www.voanews.com/a/what-is-daca-/4750712.html |
Why are more and more women watching porn made for gay men? | Smiling at me over Skype, Dr Lucy Neville is in her light-flooded kitchen somewhere in deepest Bedford. Eight months pregnant and wearing a floral summer dress, she is a picture of heterosexual domesticity, her strapping husband, Dan, pottering benignly in the background. Shes a criminologist by trade, but were here to talk about her racy academic side hustle. Are we, erm, good to go, I ask, tentatively. Oh, its fine Dan has his porn and I have mine, she says brightly. Lucys porn is gay male porn well-oiled, muscular extravaganzas in which women are absent, save the odd cameo. Certainly, shes not alone. Analysis of billions of visits to the giant online sauce reservoir that is Pornhub shows that so-called m/m porn has been | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/women-watching-gay-porn-f5pwjfptr |
Has The Chief Justice Started On The Right Footing In Appointing A Coroner? | 0 SHARES Share Tweet QUESTION OF THE DAY The announcement of the death in prison custody of Louis Gomez, former Deputy Director of the National Intelligence Agency in the final days of the Jammeh administration during the period when the TRRC is being launched raises the alarm bell regarding the state of our prisons. It is appropriate to hold a Coroners Inquest to find out the cause of death and provide redress to preempt recurrence. Never again is the clarion call. To prevent reoccurrence mindset must be changed. Institutions must be transformed. Hearts must want others to benefit from a system of justice that others did not benefit from. | https://foroyaa.gm/has-the-chief-justice-started-on-the-right-footing-in-appointing-a-coroner/ |
How Is Govt Going To Handle The Death Of Louis Gomez In Prison Custody? | 31 SHARES Share Tweet QUESTION OF THE DAY The Office of the President should issue a statement on the steps the government intends to take to get to the bottom of the cause and circumstances of the death of Louis Gomez in prison custody. The law is clear. Section 6(1) of the Coroners Act states: When a person dies while in the custody of the police or of a prison officer or in prison when detained in any place under the provisions of the Lunatics Detention Act, or of the criminal Procedure Code, the policer or prison officer or other person having the custody or charge of the deceased person at the time of his or her death shall immediately give notice of the death to the nearest Coroner and the Coroner shall hold an inquiry into the cause of death in the manner provided in this Act. The government should therefore declare that it will do what the law says and abide by the recommendations that emanates from any inquest or inquiry. | https://foroyaa.gm/how-is-govt-going-to-handle-the-death-of-louis-gomez-in-prison-custody/ |
Will fraud trial reveal gangster John 'Goldfinger' Palmer's killer? | Ten associates of Palmer, once believed to be Britains richest criminal, are charged with fraud offences in connection with his Tenerife timeshare racket, that is thought to have netted him up to 300million. They include his partner Christina Ketley, who shared the 800,000 home in Essex where he was shot dead in the garden in June 2015. Palmer was charged with fraud, money laundering and firearms offences alongside the others in May 2015, just weeks before his assassination. The trial in Madrid centres around the scam that continued to fleece customers even while Palmer was serving eight years in prison after being convicted in 2001 of fraud charges in connection with the timeshare con. John Palmer was hot in the garden of his Essex home in 2015 It is alleged that he continued to run the crime empire selling non-existent timeshares in holiday apartments from inside HMP Long Lartin with the other defendants, including Ketley, who was allegedly managing it on his behalf. Palmers alleged right-hand man Richard Anthony Cashman, 52, and one of his nephews, Darren John Morris, are also charged with fraud offences. Before his death, Palmer was facing up to 15 years in prison. He was first arrested in Spain in 2007, but not charged until 2015. The Spanish indictment also alleges a 9mm Zastava pistol, found during a Tenerife raid, belonged to Palmer. It says Palmers associates in Spain had their phones tapped and the kingpin was taped giving them, including Morris, orders from his British prison cell. Christina Ketley is facing fraud charges over John Palmer's timeshare empire That trial is still to go ahead and because of the timing when that first went out, I believe that is why John was killed. DCI Stephen Jennings Prosecutors want Ketley and Cashman, each jailed for two years for criminal association, given two more for money laundering and six for fraud. Palmer got his nickname after being acquitted of smelting gold bars stolen in the notorious 1983 Brinks Mat robbery. His killer stalked him through a small hole made in the garden fence before jumping over and firing six bullets from a silenced revolver. The area of the garden was not covered by CCTV. Five of the six bullets were found but there was no other forensic evidence. Essex Polices main line of inquiry is that someone connected to the trial may have wanted him out of the way. There were suspicions among the criminal underworld after he was charged with the offences that he may have been about to turn supergrass. Last July, Ketley put up a 100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Police at the scene of John Palmer's home after his death | https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1074813/Fraud-trial-reveal-gangster-John-Goldfinger-Palmer-killer |
Is Sturgeons referendum pledge an attempt to defuse Salmond row? | Within hours of the 2016 European Union referendum, Nicola Sturgeon announced that the Scottish government had started the process of preparing legislation at Holyrood to pave the way for a second independence vote. Amid the cacophony of stock markets crashing and sterling plunging the move was cautiously welcomed by a surprising number of Scottish business people I spoke to in the immediate aftermath of the vote. These were, by and large, the same people who were opposed to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014 and the break-up of the UK. However, I pointed out at the time that Sturgeon would need to show those businesses, and the wider Scottish public, exactly what the EU would offer Scotland before she can name the day for a | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/is-sturgeons-referendum-pledge-an-attempt-to-defuse-salmond-row-cgxrkd9sm |
Where do the RuPauls Drag Race All Stars 4 queens stand post-LaLaPaRuZa? | Welcome to Drag Race Power Rankings! Every Saturday, well debrief the previous nights new episode of RuPauls Drag Race All Stars 4 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. This week, were reset to the final seven in the wake of LaLaPaRuZa, and several queens have fought their way back up the ranking. 7. Latrice Royale (last week: 5) This wasnt exactly how I wanted one of my all-time favourites to make her return to this competition. Latrice should thank her lucky stars no one else won their lip sync, because I think the show felt compelled to bring someone back and, well, she was the last option. Her lip sync to Sissy That Walk wasnt great, and her petty rivalry with Monique feels deeply one-sided. I need her to deliver in this next challenge in a big way, else shell be right back out the door. 6. Monique Heart (last week: 4) Ive gone from thinking Monique is a contender for the finale one week to thinking shes a certain upcoming boot the next week. Her performance has been all over the map this season. Worse, her Sissy That Walk lip sync, while better than Latrices, really wasnt much to write home about. It was more extra than exciting. I also wish shed admit that while, yes, she likely did mostly factor in report card when choosing to send Latrice home, part of her also wanted to keep her best friend in the competition. Its okay to admit you had two motives, girl. 5. Valentina (last week: 7) Valentina put up quite a fight to stay in this week, completely owning the stage and serving feline ferociousness on Kitty Girl. Shes restored my faith in her somewhat. I still think she could be the next one out the door, but if she keeps up this energy, she could outlast at least one of the Sissy That Walk twins. 4. Mont X Change (last week: 2) Mont tumbles to fourth this week through absolutely no fault of her own. She didnt compete this week because she was immune though frankly, I wish she had gotten the chance. Theres nothing Mont does better than lip syncing (her 3-2 record on Drag Race doesnt properly encompass her skills), and this couldve been a chance to show off. That said, shes still doing well, and theres a pretty big gulf between her and Valentina. 3. Naomi Smalls (last week: 6) Thats! What! Im! Talking! About! Naomi! The Season 8 queen absolutely slayed Adrenaline, delivering a kind of lip sync perfectly suited for her body. She finally managed to make her legs not just part of her brand on Drag Race, but a legitimate tool in a challenge. It reminded me of Aquarias Bang Bang performance, in that both queens used their physicality in ways we havent really seen on this show before. Now, Naomi has to bring that fire to the challenges, because if she does, she could very possibly still be here come the finale. 2. Trinity the Tuck (last week: 3) Like Naomi and Valentina, Trinity had a big redemption with Peanut Butter this week. The differences are that, for one, weve seen Trinity deliver a better lip sync this season already (Emotions), and for another, her performance was a good bit less impressive than theirs. That said, its still great to see Trinity refocus on herself and pay a little less attention to the politics of the elimination process. Shes her own worst enemy in this competition; if she can stick to simply delivering her best work every week, damn what everyone else is doing, I do think she can win this season. 1. Manila Luzon (last week: 1) Though like Mont, Manila also didnt compete. She keeps her top spot on the strength of her record this season, and that her best ally Latrice is now back in the race. That said, I have such a pit in my stomach thinking about Manila. I just know the bottom is going to fall out soon and were going to lose her. Her edit has been way too strong all season. The very second she stumbles, some queen is going to take her out. | https://www.dailyxtra.com/where-do-the-rupauls-drag-race-all-stars-4-queens-stand-post-lalaparuza-139891 |
What is causing mould where my wall meets the ceiling? | Q I have a long-standing problem with grey/black stains in three rooms, where the ceilings join the wall, on the west-facing side of the house. It smells, and when I use a dehumidifier, it extracts moisture. My insurers sent a surveyor who said it was condensation, not water ingress, which would have made a brown stain. On his advice, I added more loft insulation. It has made no difference. In fact, the stains increased in the hot summer. I open windows every day, and heat the rooms in cold weather. Builders couldnt find the cause when I had an extension years ago. Pat Tomlinson, via email A Its a complex issue your question offers a few clues to | https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/what-is-causing-mould-where-my-wall-meets-the-ceiling-nz00wntww |
Can AI Powered Education Close The Global Gender Gap? | Education is one of the most powerful predictors of future success that human society has at its disposal. How we gather, process, and disseminate knowledge to each successive generation impacts not just individual success, but a host of other related factors such as economic growth, political empowerment, and technological innovation. It is no secret that access to more effective education for individual students is a key factor in the overall betterment of society and to womens role in society. Ive long been a proponent of better education for women from my early career days working for CARE, to becoming the Chief Strategy Officer of Top Scholar, contributing to the book Innovating Women and to founding a non-profit to help the disadvantaged attain better education. Recently, Ive been looking around globally for innovative solutions that can leapfrog womens education forward. Thankfully, numerous national and global organizations have better education for women amongst their top priorities. The World Economic Forum uses Educational Attainment as one of its four subindexes in its annual analysis of the Global Gender Gap, along with Economic Participation & Opportunity, Political Empowerment, and Health & Survival. Educational Attainment also has direct impacts on the other three measures; it is an accurate predictor of future income potential, political engagement, and personal health outcomes. For women and girls, achieving equity in education is a vital part of diminishing the gender gap around the world. By the World Economic Forums standards, educational parity has been achieved in the U.S. Boys and girls born in the U.S. now have approximately equal access to education. However, just because American citizens have equal access to education does not mean that each individual is getting the best possible education for them. We see the results of this on a daily basis. Only rich families can afford to send their kids to private schools with better quality education. And of course, kids graduating from private schools have a much greater chance of attending the top universities in the U.S. But, even though the U.S. is the wealthiest country in the world, it still places only 38th in global mathematical performance, and women made up less than 24% of those employed in STEM occupations in 2015. This creates lost opportunities for American society as a whole, and especially for women. Turning to China, The World Economic Forums World Sex Gap Report 2017 showed that Chinese women were only at the 100th place in the world and the last in the health category. Education for women in China, up until recently, has been fraught with limitations and obstacles including the gender stereotype that mathematics are hard for girls. In the workplace, there were only 11% of women at higher-level roles at the provincial and ministerial level and above in 2009. This is in part because previously, it was considered unnecessary for Chinese girls to be educated because of the general expectation that men are responsible for working and supporting the family financially. The Chinese Entrepreneur database indicates that in only 4 out of the 86 Chinese companies valued over 100 billion RMB have women leaders at CEO or chairman positions. In China, only the students in the first or second tier cities can access good-quality education. Even in the first tier cities, people have to buy School-District apartments in order to enter good schools. For example, it costs around $22000/square meter for one School District apartment, where other district is only $7000 per square meter. Parents have to sell all their assets and take out loans to pay for the School District apartments. This is the unequal education situation all over China. In my search to for more innovative solutions to dramatically improve womens education nationally and abroad, I found an AI centered education company, Squirrel AI Learning. I was able to meet with the team here in Silicon Valley, and was blown away by the genuineness and passion of the team members to see their work benefit all. Derek Haoyang Li, Founder and Chairman of Squirrel AI Learning of Yixue Group, told me this: There is potential for a small grasshopper to jump 2 meters, but if you put it in a box with a cover, it can only jump to the height of the box say half a meter. In a way, low quality education can be considered that box hindering and limiting individuals potential. From an early age, Li was fascinated with the power that education held for individuals decided to dedicate his life to improving the world by improving education. In high school, he would often give lectures to other students in his self-study class. He recalls one student who, no matter how many times he gave her a lesson, could not improve her scores. After a year without progress, Li came to a realization. I cant teach her at my pace, I have to teach her at her own pace. Once I realized that, I was able to help her. That student later got into one of the top 100 schools in China. At the time, I was intrigued by how complicated education is and thought about why education is the same for every student when they dont learn the same way. Every kid is not born equal. Every kid is different, and every student is different, and they all need something different. I like to find the method of learning first. Yet efficiencies in education are hard to find. Li used his insight and experiences tutoring others to develop methods of learning and teaching in order to help his classmates. With his guidance, Lis students performed better than millions of other students around the country. When I remarked on how remarkable his successes in learning and teaching are, he simply said, I always think, How can I help people? It was in the family to help people, I think its in my blood. Currently, the best education is the most expensive. Inside China, Li says, the after-school tutoring market is $100 billion. Parents in Japan and Korea are spending 10 times more than other parents on each average child in the world. In China, only the rich families and families with good connections have the opportunity to get their kids to enter the best schools. These families also need to live in the first and second tier cities as the highest quality teaching resources are there. But the increased spending doesnt always translate to increased performance. Even in the best private schools, they have different quality ranges. My high school was number one in the province but still - some teachers gave the quality of the latest iPhone and some gave the quality of an old Nokia. I think our brain is limited by the quality of teachers when we were going through the traditional school system. Its true that, even in the top universities only the best teachers can provide the highest quality of teaching. Prior to founding Squirrel AI Learning, Li co-founded Only International Education Group (SSE: 600530.SH) and established more than 2,000 subsidiary schools over 10 years. He then led the company to a successful IPO as the first listed education company with market cap of $1.9 Billion in China. Beginning in 2005, Li experimented with all types of courses and platforms including MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses). When everyone thought MOOCs were blooming, Li predicted that MOOCs were in the process of dying a speech at an international education conference. The chair of the conference asked Li how he could make such prediction in front of Courseras founder, especially as Courseras market value was experiencing a meteoric rise from $100 million to $1 Billion. Lis prediction was based on observing that students enrolled in MOOCs couldnt concentrate for a long time on the long lessons and exercises, and that MOOCs had very low completion rates. Teaching at the same pace and with the same content to all students wasnt and is not right. Instead, Li wanted to tailor the pace of education to the strengths of the student, as he had done with the classmates he had tutored to success in middle school. In October 2014, Li stepped down from his CEO and Vice Board Chairman positions at the Chinas A-Shares listed company Only Education, even with a stable annually increase of 30%, to found Squirrel AI Learning. He believes that AI can provide the personalized and thus the best quality education for each individual student based on their differences. Its difficult for an education company to become global. Even in different provinces in China, they have different policies. AI can solve that problem. AI can recognize the infinite and nano-scaled elements from the education. These chemical elements can constitute infinite organic substances. Li said. In the past 100 years, we have uplifted about 90 percent of people out poverty, virtually eliminated illiteracy, and made progress on health and sanitation for all. In the next 100 years, AI can solve inequality in education, thus closing the gender gap and allowing all to better succeed in life. His ultimate goal for the world is for all students to be able to thrive, and Li believes that individualized education utilizing the power of AI is the only way to achieve that goal. With AI, opportunity is unlimited. Squirrel AI Learning focuses on making that dream a reality. The platform, centered on intelligent adaptive education, has a joint lab with Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in AI education, and another joint lab with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The team at Squirrel AI Learning is composed of scientists and technologists from Knewton, ALEKS, RealizeIT and more, and also has the Dean of the School of Computer Science of CMU, Professor Tom Mitchell, as its Chief AI Officer. Utilizing artificial intelligence to provide students with a personalized learning plan and one-on-one tutoring with human coaching as needed, Squirrel AI Learning offers high-quality after-school courses in subjects such as Math, English, Chinese, Physics, and Chemistry. Powered by its proprietary AI-driven adaptive engine and custom-built courseware, the Squirrel AI Learning platform employs models and algorithms such as knowledge space theory, genetic algorithm, Bayesian knowledge tracing, and etc. to evaluate students knowledge mastery, learning ability and methods. The platform then provides the most efficient learning path for each individual student based on the thorough assessment of their strength, weaknesses, abilities, learning paces and even personalities. Right now, the AI model can teach students very wellThe machine will teach and, the teachers will support and provide the human touch and encouragement Li shared. The platform is proving quite effective. The first AI vs. Human competition in Asia Pacific was held by Squirrel AI Learning in October 2017. It organized three subsequent competitions this year, with all of the competitions administered and monitored by third party notaries. The certified and published results showed that Squirrel AI Learning teaching delivered 7 9% higher learning gains over human teachers using traditional teaching methods. The human teachers who participated in the experiments were all top-level teachers in China. The platform has shown better results not only in a1:15 teacher to student ratio control group but also against a 1:3 ratio control group in both student efficacy and engagement measurements. In the past, I would take around 100 days a year for holidays and vacations, now I take only 2 days, Li told me. I have obtained enough fortune for myself and my familys whole life time from my first companys IPO. And now, I am on the way of achieving my mission to help the kids in the world with equal education. And this might change the whole generation and humanitys development. This is the future, and thats why I treat me so hard. I think its worth it. Li has given most of Squirrel AI Learnings shares to the team. I will also donate most of my shares to the charity in the future. This is a big mission and vision. I am 100% into it. With the power of AI, Squirrel AI Learning is also able to cut costs, charging much less than private schools for broader access. The company is also conscious of those who cant afford even the reduced cost, and donated 1 million free accounts to poor families with the commitment to donate millions more accounts in the future. Even with lower prices than traditional schooling and millions of free accounts available for the underprivileged, Squirrel AI Learning is starting to make profit - and they are of the only AI education company that currently turns profit among all the AI education and online education companies in China both in cash flow and in net income. Over the course of 2 years, Squirrel AI Learning opened 1600 schools, all with the same high-quality standards. In the next two years, Squirrel AI Learning hopes to be in the top 5 education companies in China and to expand its platform to other countries. Whats next for Li and Squirrel AI Learning is how to incorporate EQ (a measure of emotional intelligence) and creativity into the platform. This comes from Lis personal experience in recognizing the need to high EQ in order to thrive. When he was young, Li experienced social anxiety and had a lower EQ. It was something he needed to improve if he was to become an entrepreneur his hearts desire - and so he set out to learn it. He read all the books he could get his hands on but made no progress, until he decided to break down EQ in 20 smaller, more easily digested skill sets. The 20 skill sets of EQ include the ability to observe, finding other peoples interest when talking, tolerance and even the ability to find excuses to forgive someone. Li now wants to merge such EQ learning experience into the Squirrel AI Learning, cultivating students to be smarter and also more socially literate. If students are able to expand their potential in knowledge, skills, and the capacity to effectively communicate and collaborate, the possibilities for the future are endless. All of the progress on the individual education level can have colossal global impact. Currently, lack of education and lack of the opportunity to learn effectively is at the core of many of the worlds most pressing problems. Political turmoil, man-made disasters, gender discrimination, poverty, hunger, disease all would be lessened if each individual human were educated more efficiently and more personally. Its not to say that better education will solve all of the worlds problems, but rather that better education makes all of the worlds problems easier to solve by creating many more capable problem-solvers. What Squirrel AI Learning is doing is to solve the problem of education equality and accessibility. People women and men - can have the same high-quality of education no matter where they are. Providing better education to individuals globally can, in my opinion, close the gender gap. Access to more effective education increases womens abilities to earn income, boosts political engagement and participation, and provides them the support necessary to make lifestyle decisions that dramatically increase wellbeing, productivity and personal income. By creating AI systems that aim to better education on the individual student level, we are creating an easier path to achieving greater societal success for all women included. | https://www.forbes.com/sites/katieelizabeth1/2019/01/19/can-ai-powered-education-close-the-global-gender-gap/ |
What was Mike Pence touching at NASA and is it okay? | Its unusual for NASA to go viral, but thats what happened this morning: it was hard to avoid a photo of Vice President Mike Pence appearing to make first contact with a piece of NASA equipment that apparently wasnt supposed to be touched. It looks to be a covering for the Orion capsule, which NASA is building to take humans into deep space. Fortunately, touching it probably wont mess up future missions. Heres the back story on the photo: yesterday, Pence visited NASAs Kennedy Space Center, where he gave a speech declaring that President Trump will make the space agency great again (but didnt say how hed do it). Pence then toured the campus facilities and stopped in the Orion clean room, where pieces of NASAs capsule are being assembled. During this tour, Pence decided to place his hand on a piece of Orion spaceflight hardware despite the fact that there was a sign attached to the article that read DO NOT TOUCH. A photographer was on hand to snap the picture, and the internet was on hand to make the jokes. When the sign says "Do Not Touch" but the VP is handsy. pic.twitter.com/uTlmsSRg7c Robert McNees (@mcnees) July 7, 2017 In Pence's defense, "DO NOT TOUCH" is in quotes. pic.twitter.com/E6AXhxICnn southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) July 7, 2017 Thats just the tip of the iceberg, though. You can check out a whole inspired collection here. One source who works on Orion tells The Verge that the vice president is touching the titanium forward bay cover of the Orion capsule, which is exactly what it sounds like: the thing that goes over the forward bay. Thats on top of the capsule where the parachutes and other important hardware are kept. The forward bay cover is meant to keep this hardware safe from extreme environments during the mission to space. It is then jettisoned before landing just before the parachutes are deployed. Check out a test of this process below: And while its probably best to respect the signs you see in a clean room, touching the cover doesnt seem like that big of a deal. NASA later confirmed what The Verge had already reported in a statement, that the do not touch signs are there just to minimize handling of the hardware. "Procedures require the hardware to be cleaned before tiles are bonded to the spacecraft, so touching the surface is okay, NASA said in a statement to The Verge. Otherwise, the hardware would have had a protective cover over it like the thermal heat shield, which was nearby." Update July 7th, 3:45PM ET: This post has been updated to include a statement from NASA. Pence has since blamed this on peer pressure. | https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/7/15933654/mike-pence-orion-capsule-nasa-viral-photo |
What's Iran Up To With Recent Rocket Launch Attempt? | Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Earlier this week, Iran attempted to launch a rocket carrying a satellite into space. The Trump administration says their goal is really to develop long-range weapons. NPR's Geoff Brumfiel looks into what Iran is up to. GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE: The rocket launched before dawn. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Foreign language spoken). BRUMFIEL: That was video of the liftoff posted to an Iranian government Instagram feed. Iran later said it failed. The satellite it was carrying, built by an Iranian university and designed to monitor things like trees and farmland, was lost. But that did not stop President Trump from making a pointed accusation about the launch. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The Iranian regime tested a space launch vehicle, which failed, that will provide Iran with critical information - if it didn't fail - that they could use to pursue intercontinental ballistic missile capability. BRUMFIEL: Trump says the rocket launch was really about building a better missile, one that could hit the United States. So Iran claims its rockets are for scientific research. The Trump administration says it's all a cover for weapons. Markus Schiller is the founder of ST Analytics, an independent consultancy in Germany. He's spent a lot of time looking at Iran's space program, and he says there are links to the military. For example, the engines Iran uses on its space rockets have a military origin. MARKUS SCHILLER: It's actually a missile engine. BRUMFIEL: But Schiller says it's not a very good missile engine. It's an old design from the Soviet Union, picked up by the North Koreans and later transferred to Iran. It's clunky and inefficient. To get even a small payload into space requires the rocket to be huge. It takes weeks to set up. Also, Schiller says, based on photos, Iran's space rocket can't work as a missile. The second stage is just too small. To him, the launch looks nonthreatening. SCHILLER: Iran always claims that they don't want to build an ICBM, but they want to pursue a space program. And that's what I'm seeing right now. Well, not necessarily. MICHAEL ELLEMAN: If you look at the history of missile development worldwide, space launch activity has never been decisive. BRUMFIEL: Michael Elleman is a physicist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. In fact, he says, in every case he can think of, it's gone the other way around. Nations don't turn their rockets into missiles; they turn old missiles into rockets. So the technologies are linked, but it's not a straight line. And Elleman questions whether the space program should be the focus. ELLEMAN: I think we're spending a lot of political capital complaining about something that is not a direct threat or risk to the United States or the international community. BRUMFIEL: Instead, he says the U.S. should keep the emphasis on much-shorter-range Iranian missiles. Those missiles are used by proxy groups, like rebels in Yemen, to threaten U.S. allies in the region. Geoff Brumfiel, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. | http://www.kvnf.org/post/whats-iran-recent-rocket-launch-attempt |
Why has the Berkeley Township Council been called into special session on MLK Day? | CLOSE Federal authorities say Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore dodged taxes while living a lavish lifestyle. Kathleen Hopkins and Andrew Goudsward, Asbury Park Press BERKELEY A special session of the Township Council has been called for noon on Monday, even though its municipal offices will be otherwise closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Berkeley Township Council will have a public meeting on Monday, January 21, 2019 at 12:00 p.m., in the Berkeley Township Municipal Building Meeting Room, 627 Pinewald-Keswick Road, Bayville, N.J., stated a legal notice published in the Asbury Park Press on Friday. Items for discussion include closed session: litigation, personnel & contracts. Public invited. There will be no official action taken. Buy Photo Seal of Berkeley Township (Photo: Asbury Park Press file) Township Administrator John Camera said the subject of the special meeting is the redevelopment of the Beachwood Shopping Plaza, but he emphasized that the governing body would not vote on the matter Monday, just as the legal notice stated. Camera dismissed speculation that the purpose of the meeting was for the council to discuss whether the municipal government should terminate its professional relationship with Township Attorney George R. Gilmore. Gilmore, chairman of the Ocean County Republican Party and one of the most powerful Republican officials in New Jersey, was indicted Jan. 10 on tax evasion charges after a federal grand jury found that Gilmore spent more than $2.5 million on personal expenses including antiques, artwork, animal tusks and marble flooring even though he owed more than $1 million in federal taxes at the time. However, Camera said Gilmores future with the township is an issue that could come up for discussion at the councils next regularly scheduled session at 6 p.m. on Jan. 28. Asbury Park Press criminal justice reporter Kathleen Hopkins summarizes the charges against George Gilmore in the video above. Councilwoman Judy Noonan said that while she could not comment about the specifics of Mondays special meeting, this meeting has nothing to do with Gilmore. Noonan then added: Try next meeting. Mayor Carmen F. Amato, a key Republican figure in Ocean County politics, has not responded to multiple efforts by reporters to reach him for comment since Gilmores indictment. Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359, @Erik_Larsen or [email protected] Jean Mikle: 732-643-4050, @jeanmikle or [email protected] Read or Share this story: https://www.app.com/story/news/local/toms-river-area/berkeley/2019/01/19/why-has-berkeley-township-council-been-called-into-special-session-mlk-day/2627807002/ | https://www.app.com/story/news/local/toms-river-area/berkeley/2019/01/19/why-has-berkeley-township-council-been-called-into-special-session-mlk-day/2627807002/ |
Does Facebook game help company mine data for facial recognition technology? | The #10YearChallenge gained widespread traction on social media this month. It calls for posting two photos of yourself side by side one from today and one from a decade ago to show how youve changed. People are participating mostly on Facebook and Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. Some made jokes, paid tribute to old hairstyles or drew attention to issues like global warming. Celebrities posted glamour shots that showed negligible changes from one decade to the next. (Singer Mariah Carey won this round. I dont get this 10-year challenge, she wrote in a tweet, along with two identical photos side by side. Time is not something I acknowledge.) But one post went viral without featuring any side-by-side photos at all. It was written by Kate ONeill, author of the book Tech Humanist: How You Can Make Technology Better for Business and Better for Humans. Me 10 years ago: probably would have played along with the profile picture aging meme going around on Facebook and Instagram, she wrote in a tweet last week. Me now: ponders how all this data could be mined to train facial recognition algorithms on age progression and age recognition. Her words hit a nerve. People responded with concerns about whether they were helping the tech giant get better at identifying people. ONeills post got more than 10,000 retweets and more than 20,000 likes. She expanded on her thoughts in a widely shared article in Wired. I wondered about why this particular thought, in this particular moment, generated so much traction, ONeill said Friday, adding that she was not trying to stoke any panic. Experts said the photos uploaded for the #10YearChallenge were drops in a very, very big bucket of data that Facebook has been collecting for years. Supporters of facial recognition technologies said they can be indispensable for catching criminals or finding missing people. But critics warned they can enable mass surveillance or have unintended effects. Lauren Rhue, an assistant professor of information systems and analytics at the Wake Forest School of Business, said the #10YearChallenge could conceivably provide a relatively clean data set for a company that wanted to work on age-progression technology. But she added that Facebook already has billions of photos, and people should be wary of any company being in possession of such a large trove of biometric data. The risk in giving up any type of biometric data to a company is that theres not enough transparency, not only about how the data is currently being used, but also the future uses for it, she said, pointing to another form of biometric data, DNA, used by law enforcement to track down suspects something many people might not have anticipated when they volunteered saliva to trace their ancestral roots. There are things we dont think of as being threats, Rhue said. And then five or 10 years from now, we realize that there is a threat, but the data has already been given. Like the rest of us, Facebook looked different 10 years ago. It reached 360 million active users in 2009; now, it has more than 2 billion. Facebook announced it was using facial recognition technology in 2010. When people upload photos of their friends, Facebook can use the technology to suggest the names of people in the picture. It can also alert users if they are in a photo posted by a friend. Facebook has responded to concerns about photos and privacy in the past. The company said it does not intend to help strangers identify you, and has repeatedly pointed out that users can disable face recognition in their settings. As for the 10-year challenge, Facebook said its just a fun trend. The 10-year challenge is a user-generated meme that started on its own, without our involvement, the company said on Twitter. | http://www.startribune.com/does-facebook-game-help-company-mine-data-for-facial-recognition-technology/504603711/ |
Will President Trump fiddle while America burns? | President Donald Trump has drawn a line in the sand over the border wall and its federal funding. That line in the sand impacts all of America and more than 800,000 federal workers who are without a job or paycheck. Trump holds the governmental key to the shutdown and that the re-opening and resuming of the services that are critical to the operation of our government. All Americans rely on our functioning government. John Mooney Jr. (Photo: Special to The Clarion-Ledger) Americans do not need to Hail Trump! as Trump is a sitting president of a world power and is in charge of keeping the doors of our government open for all people. He has failed in that regard. Trump says that Congress should do their job and pass legislation for the securing of our Southern borders. Trump also now claims that Congress should share the blame for the government shutdown that is now 22 days and counting. Congress does not believe that we need a wall. America is at an impasse and there does not appear to be any foreseeable light at the end of the tunnel. In the meantime, our enemies wait for America to fail and fall. Trump appears to be just fiddling while federal workers go without pay and all of America suffers. Trumps fear of a southern invasion is the same dogma of right wing hate groups that are wanting to stop the drug dealers, rapists, murderers, and AIDS carriers from coming to America. The same fears led Trumps watch to Charlottesville and the needless death of Heather Heyer, a paralegal who was killed by an American Neo-Nazi at a rally conducted by a right wing hate group. Heyer was protesting racial hate in America. America lost that day in the summer of 2017 and many suggested that Charlottesville was a Waterloo moment for Trump. Now, we have another Waterloo moment not just for Trump but for all America. Simply, the wall. Trump shifted gears as he was losing the majority in the House two years into his presidency. Trump wants that wall at all costs. A government shutdown is Trumps way of getting what he wants. Political promises to Trumps supporters to build and fund the wall is one thing, but to allow a government shutdown, for perhaps months or longer, is the failure of the president in his duties to the American people. The 1 percent perhaps may not be substantially impacted by a government shutdown but the 99 percent will. Not only are government employees not being paid, but important government services such as our federal courts are running on fumes to continue to operate. There are no government services for some Americans. All because of a wall that will hopefully secure our borders. The wall is personal to Trump and is disguised in the name of border security. Trump is now pushing and demanding his wall at a time when his administration is facing at least 15 investigations including the Robert Mueller probe. His former associates and lawyer have pleaded guilty to felony charges from lying to investigators, to other crimes. Trumps actions over the wall are no different than Emperor Nero who is said to have fiddled while Rome burned. Frances Marie Antoinette in the 18th century is attributed to a similar saying, Let them eat cake! when being told that the masses were starving to death. The saying also means that Marie Antoinette did not care about the French people, but only herself. In the event that this shutdown continues over the wall and the $5 billion dollar funding that Mexico was supposed to be paying (a political promise of Trump), the president could have his own defining Waterloo moment. Nero and Marie Antoinette ignored the pleas of the masses and they both suffered severe consequences of those actions. The Romans and French finally saw the light. Napoleon, on the other hand, after the battle of Waterloo, was sent into exile for the rest of his life. Napoleon died in exile on a foreign island six years later. Hopefully, before it is too late. The operation of our government and government services is not a political tool to ensure that a political campaign is kept. Most, if not all, Americans want greater border security. However, no American wants a shutdown of our government. Trump can either make history or merely be a footnote in the annals of American history. That is his choice. So far, Trump is looking to have a lengthy footnote for the wrong reasons. The border wall should not be a bargaining chip for political gain. Trump, for the sake of all Americans, do not fiddle while America burns. John M. Mooney, Jr. is a Madison attorney. Read or Share this story: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2019/01/19/president-trump-fiddle-while-america-burns/2602689002/ | https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2019/01/19/president-trump-fiddle-while-america-burns/2602689002/ |
Will Globalists Sacrifice The Dollar To Get Their 'New World Order'? | Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com, Trade is a fundamental element of human survival. No one person can produce every single product or service necessary for a comfortable life, no matter how Spartan their attitude. Unless your goal is to desperately scratch an existence from your local terrain with no chance of progress in the future, you are going to need a network of other producers. For most of the history of human civilization, production was the basis for economy. All other elements were secondary. At some point, as trade grows and thrives, a society is going to start looking for a store of value; something that represents the man-hours and effort and ingenuity a person put into their day. Something that is universally accepted within barter networks, something highly prized, that is tangible, that can be held in our hands and is impossible to replicate artificially. Enter precious metals. Thus, the concept of money was born, and for the most part it functioned quite well for thousands of years. Unfortunately, there are people in our world that see economy as a tool for control rather than a vital process that should be left alone to develop naturally. The idea of fiat money, money which has no tangibility and that can be created on a whim by a central source or authority, is rather new in the grand scheme of things. It is a bastardization of the original and much more stable money system that existed before that was anchored in hard commodities. While it claims to offer a more liquid store of value, the truth is that it is no store of value at all. Purveyors of fiat, central banks and globalists, use ever increasing debt as a means to feed fiat, not to mention the hidden tax of price inflation. When central bankers get a hold of money, it is no longer a representation of work or value, but a system of enslavement that crushes our ability to produce effectively and to receive fair returns for our labor. There are many people today in the liberty movement that understand this dynamic, but even in alternative economic circles there are some that do not understand the full picture when it comes to central banks and fiat mechanisms. There is a false notion that paper currencies are the life blood of the establishment and that they will seek to protect these currencies at all costs. This might have been true 20 years ago or more, but it is not true today. Things change. The king of this delusion is the US dollar. As the world reserve currency it is thought by some to be untouchable, a pillar of the globalist structure that will be defended for many decades to come. The reality, however, is that the dollar is nothing more than another con game on paper to the globalists; a farce that they are happy to sacrifice in order to further their goals of complete centralization of world trade and therefore the complete centralization of control over human survival. That is to say, the dollar is a stepping stone for them, nothing more. The real goal of the globalists is an economic system in which they can monitor every transaction no matter how small; a system in which there is eventually only one currency, a currency that can be tracked, granted or taken away at a moment's notice. Imagine a world in which your store of value is subject to constant scrutiny by a bureaucratic monstrosity, and there is no way to hide from them by using private trade as a backstop. Imagine a world in which you cannot hold your money in your hand, and access to your money can be denied with the push of a button if you step out of line. This is what the globalists really desire. Some people might claim that this kind of system already exists, but they would be fooling themselves. Even though fiat currencies like the dollar are a cancer on free markets and true production, they still offer privacy to a point, and they can still be physically allocated and held in your hand making them harder to confiscate. The globalists want to take a bad thing and make it even worse. First and foremost, they will seek a controlled demolition of the dollar as the world reserve currency. They have accomplished this in the past with other reserve currencies, such as the Pound Sterling, which was carefully diminished over a period of two decades just after WWII through the use of treasury bond dumps by France and the US, as well as the forced removal of the sterling as the petro-currency. This was done to make way for the US dollar as a replacement after the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944. The dollar did not achieve true world reserve status, though, until after the gold standard was completely abandoned by Nixon in the early 1970's, at which point a deal was struck with Saudi Arabia making the dollar the petro-currency. Once the dollar was no longer anchored to gold and the world's energy market was made dependent on it, the fate of the US economy was sealed. Unlike Britain and the sterling, the US economy is hyper-dependent on the dollar's world reserve status. While Britain suffered declining conditions for decades after the loss, including inflation and high interest rates, the US will experience far more acute pain. A complete lack of adequate manufacturing capability within US borders has turned our nation into a consumer based society rather than a society of producers. Meaning, we are dependent on the demand for our currency as a reserve in order to enjoy affordable goods from outside sources (i.e. other manufacturing based countries). Add to this lack of production ability the fact that for the past decade the Federal Reserve has been pumping trillions of dollars into financial markets around the globe. This means trillions of dollar held overseas only on the promise that those dollars will be accepted by major exporters as a universal store of value. If faith in that promise is lost, those trillions could come flooding back into the US through various channels, and the buying power of the currency would crumble. There is a delusion within the American mainstream that even if such an event were to occur, the transition could be handled with ease. It's fantastical, I know, but never underestimate the cognitive dissonance of people blinded by bias. The rebuilding of a production base within the US to offset the crisis of losing the world reserve currency would take many years; perhaps decades. And this is in the best case scenario. With a plummeting currency and extreme price inflation, the cost of establishing new production on a large scale would be immense. While local labor might become cheap (in comparison with inflation), all other elements of the economy would become very expensive. In the worst case scenario there would be complete societal breakdown likely followed by an attempted totalitarian response by government. In which case, forget any domestically funded economic recovery. Any future recovery would have to be funded and managed from outside the US. And here is where we see the globalist plan taking shape. The banking elites have hinted in the past how they might try to reset the global economy. As I've mentioned in many articles, the globalist run magazine The Economist in 1988 discussed the removal of the dollar to make way for a global currency, a currency which would be introduced to the masses by 2018. This introduction did in fact take place as The Economist declared it would. Blockchain and digital currency systems, the intended foundation of the next globalist monetary structure, received unprecedented coverage the past two years. They are now a part of the public consciousness. Here is how I believe the process will unfold: The 2008 crash in credit and housing markets led to unprecedented stimulus by central banks, with the Federal Reserve leading the pack as the greatest source of inflation. This program of bailouts and QE stimulus conjured an even bigger bubble, which many alternative analysts have dubbed the everything bubble. The growing everything bubble encompasses not just stock markets or housing, but auto markets, credit markets, bond markets, and the dollar itself. All of these elements are now tied directly to Fed policy. The US economy is not only addicted to stimulus measures and near-zero interest rates; it will die without them. The Fed knows this well. Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at the crisis that would evolve if the Fed ever cut off stimulus, unwound its balance sheet and hiked rates in the October 2012 Fed minutes. Without constant and ever expanding stimulus measures, the false economy will implode. We are already seeing the effects as the Fed cuts tens-of-billions per month in assets from its balance sheet and hikes interest rates to their neutral rate of inflation. Auto markets, housing markets, and credit markets are in reversal, and stocks are witnessing the most instability since the 2008 crash. All of this was triggered by the Fed simply exerting incremental rate hikes and balance sheet cuts. It is also important to note that almost every US stock market rally the past several months has taken place while the Fed's balance sheet cuts were frozen. For example, for the past two-and-a-half weeks the Fed's assets have only dropped by around $8 billion; this is basically a flatline in the balance sheet. It should not be surprising given this pause in cuts (in tandem with convenient stimulus measures by China) that stocks spiked through early to mid-January. That said, Fed tightening will start again, either by rate hikes, asset cuts, or both at the same time. The Fed's purpose is to create a crisis. The Fed's goal is to cause a crash. The Fed is a suicide bomber that does not care what happens to the US system. The Fed's tightening policies do not only translate to crisis for US stocks or other markets. I see three primary ways in which the dollar can be dethroned as the world reserve. 1) Emerging economies have become addicted to Fed liquidity over the past ten years. Without continued access to the Fed's easy money, nations like China and India are beginning to seek out alternatives to the dollar as a world reserve. Contrary to the popular belief that these countries would never be able to decouple from the US, the process has already begun. And, it is the Fed that has actually created the necessity for emerging markets to seek out other sources of liquidity besides the dollar. 2) Donald Trump's trade war is yet another cover event for the loss of reserve status. I would note that the primary rationale for tariffs was to balance the trade deficit. The trade deficit with China has done the opposite and is continually expanding each month. This suggests much higher tariffs on China would be required to reduce the imbalance. It must also be understood that the trade deficit with China has long been part of a larger agreement. China is one of the largest buyers of US debt in the world and has continued to utilize the dollar as the world reserve currency. If the trade war continues through this year, it is only a matter of time before China, already seeking dollar alternatives as the Fed tightens liquidity, will start using its US treasury and dollar holdings as leverage against us. Bilateral agreements between multiple nations that cut out the dollar are being established regularly today. If China, the largest exporter/importer in the world, stops accepting the dollar as the world reserve, or if they start accepting other currencies in competition, then numerous other nations will follow their lead. 3) Finally, if the war of words between Trump and the Fed becomes something more, then this could be used by the establishment to undermine faith in US credit. If Trump seeks to shut down the Fed entirely, the globalists are handed yet another perfect distraction for the death of the dollar. I can see the headlines now - The reset could then be painted as a rescue of the global economy after the destructive actions of populists who bumbled into fiscal destruction because they were blinded by an obsession with sovereignty in a world that requires centralization to survive. The specifics of the shift to a global currency are less clear, but again, we have hints from the globalists. The Economist suggests that the US economy will have to be taken down a few pegs, and that the IMF would step in as the arbiter of forex markets through its SDR basket system. This plan was echoed recently by globalist Mohamed El-Erian in an article he wrote titled New Life For The SDR?. El-Erian also suggests that a global currency would help to combat the rise of populism. The Economist notes that the SDR would only act as a bridge to the new global currency. Paper currencies would still exist for a time, but they would be pegged to the SDR exchange rates. Currently, the dollar is only worth around .71 SDR's. In the event of the loss of world reserve status, expect this exchange rate to drop significantly. As the global crisis deepens the IMF will suggest a reset to a more manageable monetary framework, and this framework will be based on blockchain technology and a cryptocurrencywhich the IMF has likely already developed. The IMF hints at this outcome in at least two separate white papers recently published which herald a new age in which crypto as the next phase of evolution for global trade. I predict according to the current pace of the trade war, Fed liquidity tightening and de-dollerization that threats to the dollar's world reserve status will hit the mainstream by 2020. The process of "resetting" the global monetary system would likely take at least another decade to complete. The globalist preoccupation with their "Agenda 2030" sustainable development initiatives suggests a decade long timeline. Without ample resistance, the introduction of the cashless society will be presented as a natural and even heroic response by the globalists to save humanity from the selfishness of destructive nationalists. They will strut across the world stage as if they are saviors, rather than the villains they really are. * * * | https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-01-19/will-globalists-sacrifice-dollar-get-their-new-world-order?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29 |
Who Is Qualified To Be Appointed Secretary General? | 15 SHARES Share Tweet QUESTION OF THE DAY This question is answered under section 168 of the Constitution. The provision reads: The President, acting in accordance with the advice of the Public Service Commission, shall appoint a person holding an office in the public service on permanent terms to be the Head of the Civil Service. The Head of the Civil Service shall be the competent authority for the Civil Service. It should therefore be clear that the person appointed as head of the civil service must be a person holding a permanent position in the public service as advised by the Public Service Commission. The Constitution is also clear on what is defined as an office in the public service. It reads as follows under section 166 subsection (4) In this Constitution, an office in the public service does not include the offices of President, Vice-President, Speaker or Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, minister or a member of the National Assembly; the offices of a member of any commission (other than a commission the members of which are hereby or by an Act of National Assembly declared to hold an office in the public service), or a member of the Advisory Committee on the exercise of the Prerogative of Mercy or the Advisory Committee on the conferment of honours. The question now arises: Is the Public Service Commission giving advice to President Barrow on who to appoint as Head of the civil service. Foroyaa will investigate. | https://foroyaa.gm/who-is-qualified-to-be-appointed-secretary-general/ |
Could A Convict Be Elected To Public Office? | 13 SHARES Share Tweet QUESTION OF THE DAY The first elected office is that of the President. The Constitution came into force on 16 January 1997. Section 62 subsection (3) of the Constitution states: (3) A person who, while holding public office in The Gambia (b) has been found guilty of any criminal offence by any court or tribunal established by law; or (c) has been found liable for misconduct, negligence, corruption or improper behaviour by any commission or committee of inquiry established by law shall not be qualified for election as President. In the case of the National Assembly section 90(1) of the Constitution stipulates: (1) No person is qualified for election as a member of the National Assembly if he or she . (c) is under sentence of death imposed on him or her by any court, or is serving, or within five years of his or her nomination for election completed serving, a sentence of imprisonment for a term exceeding six months imposed on him or her by a court or substituted by competent authority for some other sentence imposed on him or her by a court, and has not received a free pardon. Regarding mayors, mayoresses, chairpersons and councillors section 17 subsection (3) of the Local Government Act states: A person shall not qualify to be elected or nominated as a member of a Council if he or she . (b) has been sentenced to death or imprisonment for an offence involving fraud, dishonesty or violence or has been convicted of an offence relating to or connected with elections under any enactment in force in The Gambia at the time. | https://foroyaa.gm/could-a-convict-be-elected-to-public-office/ |
What Is a Safe Withdrawal Rate in Retirement? | Retirement is a relatively new idea. In 1880, four-fifths of men over 65 were still working. The world we live in today is very different. The life expectancy of 65-and-up Americans has risen by several years, yet their labor force participation rate is under 25%. We rely on other sources of income to provide for us in our latter years. Because of all this, we need to think carefully about how much money we pull from our savings each year in retirement. Enter the "safe withdrawal rate" -- the percentage of your savings that you can, in theory, withdraw every year without running out of money while you're alive. Let's go over how to figure out what your safe withdrawal rate may be and how this number can help you plan your retirement. Image source: Getty Images. The idea behind a safe withdrawal rate is simple: It tells you how much money you can pull from your savings in year one of retirement. After that, you can adjust that rate every year to account for inflation. As we get into the nitty gritty of figuring out your safe withdrawal rate, keep in mind that there's no universally appropriate rate. Everyone's life and financial circumstances are unique. Having said that, the most popular rule of thumb is the 4% rule. This means that if you have a nest egg of $600,000, you should take out $24,000 in your first year (4% of $600,000), and then increase that amount in year two based on inflation. This is a key distinction: You do not take out 4% of your nest egg every year. You only do so in the first year, and then you make cost-of-living adjustments every year after that based on the rate of inflation. You can find recent inflation rates on websites such as USInflationCalculator.com, which shows you in a chart what the inflation rate has been for each of the past 10 years. If, for instance, inflation after year one stood at 3%, then it would be "safe" to withdraw $24,720 in year two ($24,000 X 1.03). That extra $720 would help make up for the rise in the prices of everyday goods like food and gasoline. You may think $24,000 isn't much to live on. But as we'll cover below, your nest egg is just one of (hopefully) many sources of income you can draw on in retirement. The 4% rule has an interesting origin story. For a long time, financial advisors believed it safe to withdraw up to 5% of your retirement portfolio in year one of retirement and make the same adjustments. But in 1994, financial advisor William Bengen released a landmark paper that shifted the debate markedly. According to his research, 4% should be the new standard-bearer. Bengen ran models showing how different portfolios, made up of varying blends of stocks and bonds, would have performed in the past. The two variables he looked for were 1) the initial withdrawal rate and 2) the mix between stocks and bonds. His calculations included the biggest market downturns, such as the Great Depression and the bear market of the early 1970s. Using the 4% rule, Bengen claimed, would help retirees avoid insolvency: Assuming a minimum requirement of 30 years of portfolio longevity, a first-year withdrawal of 4 percent, followed by inflation-adjusted withdrawals in subsequent years, should be safe. In no past case has it caused a portfolio to be exhausted before 33 years, and in most cases it will lead to portfolio lives of 50 years or longer. In other words, it's highly likely -- based on past data -- that the 4% rule will allow your nest egg to last at least 30 years (until your 90s) and perhaps 50 years or more. That's great news for those who plan to live to 120! Just as important, Bengen found that keeping between 50% to 75% of your nest egg in stocks was important. While stocks are more volatile in the short term, they provide higher returns than bonds in the long run. Because retirement can last anywhere from one to 40 years, long-term results matter. It's vitally important to understand the parameters of Bengen's research. Here are some key assumptions the 4% rule makes: Between 50% and 75% of your nest egg is invested in stocks, perhaps via low-fee exchange-traded funds. The remaining portion -- between 25% and 50% -- is invested in intermediate-term Treasury notes or some other sort of bond. Every year, these allocations are rebalanced to maintain your "ideal" allocation. Perhaps the most important assumption is that you do not become overly conservative if there are stock market declines. Lowering your withdrawal rate when the market dives is perfectly acceptable, but selling out of stocks and buying more bonds after market downturns can be disastrous. As Bengen points out: The client who retired in 1929 with $500,000 in a retirement fund saw that fund dwindle to less than $200,000 by the end of 1932. ... In this situation, with stocks having performed so dismally so early in retirement, it may be tempting to switch all investments to bonds in order to salvage what is left of the original capital. But that would be precisely the wrong thing to do! He goes on to explain how such a client would be committing the cardinal investing sin: buying high and then selling low, thereby locking in tremendous losses. Bengen goes on to demonstrate how this approach would lead to said client running out of money in less than 20 years. Had they left their allocation alone, the nest egg would have recovered nicely and lasted the duration of retirement. That's because every time the stock market has experienced a significant downturn, it has eventually bounced back even stronger. After falling 57% during the Great Recession, the S&P 500 has since advanced over 280%! The real killer: sequence risk! By far the biggest risk that retirees face -- especially if they choose to withdraw more than 4% from their nest egg -- is a huge drop in stocks, bonds, or (gasp) both in the first five years of retirement. In general, you will likely be safe if you are following the 4% rule. But if there's a stock market drop of over 60% in the first five years of your retirement, you should consider reducing the amount you pull out. The reason for this is twofold: The portion of the nest egg you withdraw will increase markedly above the 4% threshold. For example, say you have a $1 million nest egg. In year one, you'd withdraw 4%, or $40,000. But if the market drops 60% over the following year while inflation is flat, then according to the 4% rule, you'll need to withdraw $40,000 from the remaining balance of $384,000 the next year -- that's 10.4% of your nest egg! All of the money taken out does not get the chance to compound over the next 25 to 35 years. In other words, the extra 6% that you withdrew in the example would lose the growth it might have otherwise experienced. Here's an even better example of what I'm talking about. In this scenario, three different portfolios each earn 6% returns after inflation during normal years but suffer a 25% decline for two consecutive years at varying stages of retirement. The colored lines represent your retirement savings after the corresponding number of years of retirement. Chart showing nest egg values over time with large drops at different points in retirement More Chart by author. Assumes 6% returns during 33 of 35 years and 25% declines during the remaining two years. In all three scenarios, these retirees experience 33 years of 6% returns and just two consecutive years in which their portfolios drop 25% (for reference, the market lost a little over 50% in the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009). But as you can see, the timing of those drops makes an enormous difference. Real-life returns are never this regular, but the point is clearly illustrated: One of the greatest risks to your portfolio is a huge drop in your nest egg's returns during the first five years of retirement. If that fall comes later, the danger is mitigated because your portfolio has had plenty of time to grow. The dent isn't nearly as harmful. From this, there are two clear takeaways: If you experience a huge loss in your portfolio in your first five years of retirement, strongly consider taking out less money until your portfolio recovers. Retiring after a particularly bad year or two in the stock market can actually be a good thing. The once-in-a-decade market drop -- a 30% drop, for instance, occurs every 10 years -- has already occurred, and the chances are higher that you'll experience better-than-expected gains moving forward. This assumes that the market swoon didn't deplete your nest egg to the point where you need to withdraw more than 4% in year one. As I pointed out above, if you endure a serious market swoon in the first couple of years of retirement, it would be wise to lower your withdrawals -- but not reduce your stock allocation -- until the market recovers. There are other factors that may tempt you to change your withdrawal rates over time. For instance, if you're lucky enough to retire at a time when returns are above normal, your nest egg may continue to grow at a fast clip, regardless of your withdrawals. That may tempt you to start withdrawing more. While a modest increase in your withdrawals is acceptable -- and occasionally necessary for expenses such as medical procedures -- Bengen again cautions against dramatic changes. [Such retirees] must understand that excess returns earned today will probably be needed to offset losses in the future. They have enjoyed good luck, and nothing more. Good luck is too rare and precious to be squandered. As Bengen shows, increasing your withdrawals by even a few percentage points -- say, from 4% to 7% -- could prove disastrous if low returns and high inflation are just around the corner. As promised, we can now get to the part that covers all of your sources of income in retirement. Looking at your safe withdrawal rate is nice, but it doesn't tell the whole story. If you have a $500,000 nest egg, you might balk at spending just $20,000 per year. Chances are, however, you'll have more sources of income than this. Apart from your your nest egg, these may include: Social Security benefits Pension payouts Annuities Rental property Part-time work In 2017, the average American household with residents over 65 spent about $50,000 annually. Because this is the "mean," and we know that high spenders can pull this figure up, let's assume the "median" -- a number that better represents ordinary retirees -- is somewhere around $42,000 per year. Our hypothetical couple has a nest egg of $250,000. That may sound like a lot, but using the 4% rule, this comes out to just $10,000 per year that can be safely withdrawn. Luckily, there are other sources to consider. For instance, the average monthly Social Security retirement benefit paid in November 2018 was $1,374. Over the course of a year, assuming there are two beneficiaries in the household, that amounts to $33,000. Add in a $10,000 savings withdrawal, and this couple would cross our $42,000-per-year threshold. Of course, not all couples will fit this scenario. Some will have income from rental properties, and others will have pensions. And while some people scoff at the idea of working part-time in retirement, there are a few big side benefits to such work: It helps you maintain social contacts in your community. This is vitally important, as loneliness is the silent killer of American retirees. It keeps you active in your old age, helping you maintain your health. It likely won't require major obligations. If you need an extra $10,000 per year, that means finding a job that pays $15 an hour and doing it for just 13 hours per week. You need to consider all of these moving pieces to determine what the appropriate withdrawal rate will be for you. Taxes: They're a central part of retirement planning calculations. And they are ever-changing. Back when Bengen did his original analysis, Roth IRAs didn't even exist yet. It would be foolish to assume there will be no major changes in the tax code between now and when you pass away. So we need to come to terms with the fact that taxes will affect our investments, and we can't predict exactly how. That said, here's what we do know when it comes to withdrawing money from our nest egg: Cash that is taken out of Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s will not be taxed. If you take out 4% in year one, you get to spend all 4%. Cash that is taken out of traditional IRAs, 401(k)s, or 403(b)s will be taxed based on your income bracket. That means you'll end up paying somewhere between 10% and 20% of whatever you pull out of these accounts in taxes. That's vitally important to remember, as it essentially lowers the amount of your savings you can actually spend in a given year from 4% to around 3.2%-3.6%. That's a big difference. There's an endless number of ways in which your tax situation can affect your safe withdrawal rate. There's no way we could cover every situation in one article. That's why its important for you to consult a tax professional and map out how much you'll pay in taxes and how you'll cover that expense. Drawbacks of taking too much Withdrawing too much money from your nest egg increases your chances of running out of money while you're still alive. This can put a financial strain not only on you, but also on your family and friends, who may feel obligated to step in and help fund the gap. If you do decide to start withdrawing more money than the 4% rule dictates, it's much better to raise your distributions by modest amounts, and after you've been retired for five to 10 years. Of course, major life events like unexpected illness can change the calculus -- but you can only focus on the factors that you control. And if you're really worried about running out of money, you might consider lowering your initial withdrawals to 3.5%. Drawbacks of taking too little Because we humans are risk-averse, the thought of running out of money gets a lot of attention. The flip side of the coin rarely gets noticed, but it's worth mentioning: If you withdraw too little, you run the risk of never enjoying retirement. I'll be the first to argue that, beyond fulfilling your basic needs, money doesn't buy all that much sustainable happiness. That being said, if you keep putting off retirement, working in a job you don't love so that your nest egg, your ideal retirement budget, and the 4% rule line up just right, you might have a problem. And if you spend retirement living like a monk solely because you fear going broke, you may someday pass on with a lot of leftover money -- and a lot of missed opportunities to enjoy yourself. Step back from the situation and look at it from 30,000 feet. Money need not be an end unto itself; it is a tool to help you get the experiences you want from life. Only three things can really make you happy, according to Martin Seligman and Sonja Lyubomirsky, two leaders in the field of positive psychology: Purpose and meaning Healthy relationships Control over your own time Those last two items require flexibility in your schedule. Because of this, taking out a slightly higher amount -- say 4.5% -- might be a worthwhile decision if it means it will give you more time to focus on such things. Retirement surveys prove conclusively that the elderly are the most content, least stressed age group in the nation. And not only that, the benefits that come with ending mandatory work are lasting! Everyone's circumstances will be different. Running out of money is obviously a fate we all want to avoid. By carefully considering all these factors -- especially the 4% rule -- combining them with where you and your spouse are right now, and planning out what you'd like your Golden Years to look like, you should get a better idea for exactly what your own safe withdrawal rates will look like. More From The Motley Fool The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | https://news.yahoo.com/safe-withdrawal-rate-retirement-010500468.html |
Is stroke the end of life? | Strokes should not be the end of our lives since we could prevent and ameliorate its effect. If you are above 40, you must read this. If you had seen anybody, with even a mild stroke, you will understand that this is not an illness you will wish your worst enemy. Stroke marks the beginning of ones deterioration in life. Nobody deserves to experience even the mildest of strokes. Most patients at the brink of strokes, could be rescued by competent and observant medical teams, by just paying attention to the 10 under listed points. Prof Heidi Moawad has done a lot of research on stroke, he compiled 10 signs, that if observed will allow us to live happily ever after. While there is no absolute way to know that, you will, or will not ever have a stroke in your lifetime, there are signs that indicate, that you are at high risk of stroke. The good news is that you can do something about every one of these signs, so as to significantly lower your stroke risk. Please pay attention. 1) Your blood pressure is out of control. If you consistently have high pressure or if you are trying to avoid actually finding out what your blood pressure is that is bad news. I call it living in denial, you refuse to check your blood pressure, lest it might be high. The good news is that high blood pressure can be managed with medication, diet and lifestyle adjustment such as lowering stress and not smoking, and you will live to a very ripe old age without infirmities. Make sure you see your doctor to find out what your blood pressure is and, under your doctors supervision, start making changes if you need to. 2) Your blood sugar is high or you dont know what it is. Erratic blood sugar, chronically elevated blood sugar or uncontrolled diabetes can damage blood vessels, increasing your risk of stroke. Make sure to see your doctor regularly, so that you can get appropriate diabetes screening and proper treatment, through diet and medication. Unmanaged diabetes could lead to cataract formation, blindness, atherosclerosis, hip joint necrosis and foot drop. 3) You smoke. Smoking is a hard habit to break. It is one of the most significant signs that you are at risk of having a stroke. The good news is that, despite the harmful stroke- causing-impact of smoking, these effects amazingly reverse over time after you quit smoking. 4) You dont get enough exercise. Exercise is easy to ignore. It can seem like a hassle. It can be tough to start exercising, if you have aches and pains. But no matter what your health situation is whether you are healthy, or if you have already, had a serious stroke, there are safe and easy exercises that can keep you fit, while decreasing your stroke risk. 5) You have high cholesterol. This is a confusing one, especially lately. While, American Heart Association(AHA), recommendations for dietary cholesterol, have changed recently, you still need to maintain recommended levels. It is now known that dietary fat and genetic factors cause high cholesterol. 6) You are always flying off the handle. Stress is a major contributor to Hypertension, heart disease and diabetes all of which cause stroke. Stress control and an overall calm, relaxed lifestyle can significantly decrease your stroke risk. 7) You carry deep stress. Stress isnt always manifested as blowing your fuse. Some people are stressed out because of the burden of hiding something, living secret anger, and constantly trying to impress someone who is hard to please, or endlessly chasing after approval. Overcoming hidden stress is equally as important as overcoming more obvious stress. 8) You dont take your medications. Most stroke risk factors can be managed, but it requires regularly taking your medications, buying your drugs and doing regular check ups. 9) You dont get attention for your heart disease. If you have shortness of breath when you walk or exert yourself, or if you experience chest pain, then you are running a huge risk of a stroke or a heart attack. So consult your doctor. 10) Ignoring Transient Ischaemia Attack(TIA) Whenever you notice any of the signs I listed above, please consult your doctor. Always be medically guided. Please follow me on twitter ; @ _ DRSUN. | https://www.sunnewsonline.com/is-stroke-the-end-of-life/ |
Does Ratu Naulago deserve a Hull FC contract? | Get Hull FC updates directly to your inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email Ratu Naulago was one of Hull FCs worst kept secrets through the early part of the pre-season. Following an accidental reveal in a press release, he got people talking. This was quickly followed by photos of an unnamed player appearing in pre-season. We all knew who he was pretty much but it wasnt until coach Lee Radford confirmed his presence in the camp that he began appearing on Google Trends as the top search term associated with Hull FC. Its only natural. We are all curious and his unknown status in rugby league meant the majority of us had no idea who he was before giving him a search. Even a brief look online only revealed that he had played rugby union for the Armed Forces and for Saracens, where he landed the Premiership sevens title last year. But there was still a fair amount of intrigue surrounding how he would actually take to rugby league. Radford did his best to big up the winger in preparation for the heavy win over Doncaster earlier this month, but it was only when we all saw him in action that we were able to agree there was a player there. His outstanding carry out of the backfield and devastating step of the full-back for a 90-metre try was something to behold at the Keepmoat Stadium. But it was against League One opposition. Fast-forward one week to Wakefield Trinity and the Fijian acquitted himself well again. Benefiting from Jake Connors sublime cut-out ball, the outside back dived over for his second try in as many games. Naulagos side of the field defensively was caught out at Wakefield but that wasnt necessarily solely his fault. Jump forward to St Helens and Regan Grace was able to get the better of Naulago for one try in the first half. (Image: RLPIX) However, and quite impressively, Naulago did well to pull off two try-saving tackles before half-time as well. One was on Jonny Lomax as he stopped the Testimonial man right in his tracks and forced an error, while the other saw the FC trialist catch up with Grace and take him down from behind. Lets get one thing straight. Naulago is not an FC starter right now. His wild offload inside his own 20 which almost saw Hull concede a try was case in point. But its about whether he deserves a contract and a chance at the Black and Whites. This pre-season he has clearly impressed the coaching staff and his team-mates, and in terms of what hes shown on the field, he deserves a shot. Follow the Black and Whites on Hull Live Our daily newsletter - To get the latest headlines direct to your email inbox every day, click here. Follow our Hull FC page on Facebook - Like our Facebook page to get the latest news in your feed and join in the lively discussions in the comments. Click here to give it a like! Follow us on Twitter - For breaking news and the latest stories, click here to follow our Hull FC page on Twitter. | https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/rugby-league-news/hull-fc-news-ratu-naulago-2448245 |
Is the third season the charm for Minnesota United? | Back from an offseason that was anything but, Minnesota United coach Adrian Heath returned from seven weeks in Europe with his passport worn and his hope strong for a crucial upcoming third MLS season. He scouted 36 games from Scandinavia to Spain and plenty in between while United Sporting Director Manny Lagos scoured South America, after their team released 11 players following a 2018 season that produced only one road victory and no playoff appearance. Now with $250 million Allianz Field set to open in April, Heath knows it is time for him, players and management to deliver with a roster remade for Season 3 that begins training Tuesday in Blaine. If I were owner of a team, at the end of three years Id have to ask, Is this team ready to compete at the top level? Heath said. I think we will be. Im under no illusions that we have to better than we have been, certainly on the road. As I said to some of our staff the other day, weve run out of excuses. United remade its midfield by acquiring four-time MLS All-Star Ozzie Alonso from Seattle for a salary approaching $700,000. It added Jan Gregus from F.C. Copenhagen in Denmarks first division, making him the Loons third and final salary-cap-excluded designated player. Then it reached terms with right back Romain Metanire from Frances top league. The Loons still intend to add another defender and goalkeeper, each of starters quality. Were working hard on that, Heath said about a team that brought back last seasons starter Bobby Shuttleworth and just drafted Marylands Dayne St. Clair. You do the math. Heath did. If we get the two pieces were looking for, suddenly half the team has changed, he said. Beyond the newcomers arrivals, Heath sees a changed team in other ways: Veteran midfielders Ethan Finlay and Kevin Molino each return from knee surgery, Finlay is a bit further ahead in his recovery and aimed toward the March 2 opener. The franchises first two designated players Darwin Quintero and Angelo Rodriguez as well as speedy goal-scorer Romario Ibarra are back after each was acquired a little or a lot of the way through last season. Its not easy being in a new country, surrounded by new teammates, in a new system, Heath said. Theyre little things, but they all add up. Those guys now have their feet under the table. They know where theyre coming. Thats a huge difference. He also said he expects more from Uniteds past draft picks, particularly No. 1 overall Abu Danladi, and wonders what kind of impact Chase Gasper, the 15th pick in last weeks SuperDraft, could have. Suddenly, Heath says he sees talent, experience, leadership, flexibility and healthy bodies that were missing during the Loons first two MLS seasons. If I look now at the team we can put out, I can honestly say its the first time we go onto the field with a similar hand as the teams we play, he said. I always thought we were up against it, and thats not an easy thing to say. You cant come out and say that then, but I can now. If we get the pieces were looking to bring in, well be going on the field with a far better opportunity to get some sort of result. Their makeover began with their two midfielders and what Heath calls a complementary combination of differing ages and skills. Arguably MLS best defensive midfielder this past decade and driven to win, Alonso turned 33 in November. Heath said his team has researched and studied how they might manage his age to keep him healthy late into the season. Allianz Fields natural grass might help. People will only understand what Ozzie will give us when they see him week in and week out, Heath said. A Slovakian national team member, Gregus turns 28 on Jan. 29. He is a player Heath describes as very smooth, very easy on the eye and a passer with great range. At nearly 6-3, he also could provide a needed physical presence. The two have been paired together, with both Lagos and Heath believing the defensive answers for a team that has given up 141 goals the past two seasons begin in the midfield. Heath calls Alonso a veteran whose presence and discipline will help solidify Uniteds back defensive line. Were as good as most teams in the league when we have the ball, Heath said. Our problem has been when we dont have the ball. If we can get in a real defensive structure and mind-set, our goals-against column and the standings will get significantly better. The two players also could help offensively as well when played behind both Rodriguez and Quintero. Heath hopes to use Rodriguezs quickness and strength to get and keep possession of the ball. He just wants Quintero with the ball more, period. We have a really special player in Darwin, and we feel these guys will get the ball to him quicker, he said. The quicker we can get him the ball in dangerous spots, the better for us. Heath credits Uniteds ownership for buying an expansion franchise, investing in a practice facility, funding a new stadium and now improving the roster. Players dont come cheap anymore, were starting to invest in the team, he said. We have every reason to be optimistic. Im sitting here more confident and more excited than since Ive been here. I feel this year with can match up with these teams now. | http://www.startribune.com/is-the-third-season-the-charm-for-minnesota-united/504603681/ |
Could Kenya have prevented the hotel siege? | Image copyright Getty Images The deadly militant raid on a hotel complex in Kenya has raised questions about whether the security forces have learned any lessons from past terror attacks, including the four-day siege on the Westgate shopping centre in 2013. These days individuals and vehicles entering any major public premises in Kenya usually have to go through checks by private security companies involving a range of tools - metal detectors, X-ray machines, bomb detectors and sniffer dogs. Though Kenyans have varying opinions about how seriously the security personnel take this process. One place where they would be expected to be conscientious is the scene of the latest attack, the complex that includes the DusitD2 hotel, known by its address: 14 Riverside. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Nairobi Dusit hotel attack: explosions, gunfire and rescue operation It is home to a variety of businesses and a major hotel which was frequented by professionals, government officials and foreigners. In other words, the kind of location that the Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab would target knowing that the world would notice. Yet however strict the security measures and however conscientious those enforcing them are, there is only so much the building owners can do to secure their property and clientele, as Tuesday's events highlighted. The main responsibility lies with the Kenyan authorities. Most of the recent al-Shabab attacks on Kenyan soil have been around the border with Somalia, which appeared to feed a semblance of control and stability in the rest of the country amid a lingering threat. This however assumes that al-Shabab always plans its major actions in Somalia. Risk analyst Mathias Muindi thinks that this latest attack has signs that there was some level of preparation by Kenyan militant cells. "The evidence collected about the attack suspects has revealed links to parts of Kenya that are traditionally non-Muslim and non-Somali, where security agencies may not have previously paid much attention," he says. "The problem now is that they do not have the adequate manpower to run an expanded and robust nationwide intelligence operation." Emerged in Somalia after the collapse of Islamic Courts Union in 2006 Linked to al-Qaeda Battle the UN-backed government in Somalia Impose a strict version of Sharia in areas of Somalia under their control Have launched attacks in Kenya and Uganda - both countries have troops in Somalia Read more about the militants The quality and effectiveness of the government's anti-terror efforts will be scrutinised yet again - in particular whether crucial intelligence from local and foreign sources is acted upon. Kenyan intelligence officials argue that over the years they have had successes intercepting some suspected militants, potentially preventing more attacks and proving that they are making progress. They add that it has been nearly four years since the attack the university campus in the town of Garissa and more than five years since similar attack in the capital, referring to the Westgate siege in 2013. The suggestion is that such incidents are not the norm. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption At least 67 people died in the 2013 attack on the Westgate shopping mall Clearly, some lessons were learned from Westgate. The scale and depth of the emergency response - police and military counter-terror units, foreign security personnel, ambulance and fire brigade - that arrived at 14 Riverside showed organisation, in contrast to the shambles five years ago. Security agents arrived relatively quickly and showed composure as they evacuated civilians and screened them before letting them go, to be sure that the attackers did not slip out unnoticed. However, there were still some worrying lapses. 'Training is not enough' Security officials delayed enforcing a strict security cordon, meaning that there could have been more civilian casualties if there had been further explosions, a tactic al-Shabab has used in Somalia. A suspicious vehicle in the car park that security agents thought could have been used by the attackers remained unattended. Footage also showed an unexploded grenade lying in a corridor of one of the buildings as security agents shuffled in and out a few feet away. More on the hotel siege: There are wider issues to consider too for Kenya's security chiefs. "There is a lot of spending on training the security forces yet we only see limited effects because their welfare is poor," says George Musamali, the director of a private security firm. "Training is not enough. Equipping is not enough. Something needs to be done about human resource to make sure that these people are fully motivated to do their work properly." Image copyright AFP Image caption The security response was better co-ordinated compared to the reaction to the Westgate attack He also calls for a better channel of communication between the government and the public, not just in the aftermath of attacks but as a norm so that intelligence from the civilians can be properly gathered and used. The government responded to this week's attack by using a familiar tactic: downplaying the impact of al-Shabab's actions. This is part of an active effort to control the narrative and win the propaganda war that has accompanied this insurgency. Kenyans were warned against sharing gruesome images from the attack and on Tuesday evening Interior Minister Fred Matiang'i announced that the affected buildings had been secured and security forces were mopping up the area. Losing trust But this came as members of the public were reporting that their friends and relatives were still in the complex hiding from the attackers. Mr Musamali feels the government's tone only pushes away the public and loses their trust. The government is up against a group that has arguably the most advanced media operation of any militant Islamist movement in Africa, including established radio and digital outfits. It often films its attacks in Somalia, including the devastating assault on a Kenyan army base in the town of el-Ade exactly three years to the day of this week's attack. Some of its media material is produced in Swahili, clearly targeting audiences in Kenya, revealing its cross-border ambitions. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Kenyans will be hoping that the security lessons from this attack can be learned The threat will not go away in the short term and changes still need to be made. Andrew Franklin, a Nairobi-based security consultant and ex-US marine, says it is clear that the government's security agencies and the many private security companies are not working together enough "and that is evident in the obvious security glitches around Nairobi". Yet again, Kenya has suffered a big loss and as its people come to terms with this week's events they will wonder why it has to take catastrophe for more lessons to be learned. | https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-46921249 |
Whats The Point Of DeCaf? | Seriously, I don't put water in my gas tank. The car won't run without petrol. I understand some of you can't drink caffeine for reasons of health or faith. It's not like it's a tasty slice of pecan pie. Half an hour later you're hurtling down the Interstate and the sandman starts calling. Coffee is a tool for the world's early risers. When I walked into the Townsquare Media Commissary this morning I spotted the above abomination. You people are sick! Literally or figuratively. Half an hour later you're hurtling down the Interstate and the sandman starts calling. A buddy of mine from high school was once handed a light beer. He gave it back to his host. The surprised look brought a quick reply from my friend. "I don't drink ladies beer," he offered. 'Nuff said. | http://newsradio1310.com/whats-the-point-of-decaf/ |
Where are These Late President YarAduas Men? | Until President Umaru Musa YarAdua died on May 5, 2010, these men wielded enormous influence and powers. As members of the late presidents inner cabinet, they practically dictate the pace, pulse and policy direction of government. The change of baton following the death of their boss, however, forced them to recoil into their anonymous cocoon. Dr. Sayydi Abba Ruma within the cabinet and in government circles, Ruma was acknowledged as a super minister who had the ears of the president. As the Minister in charge of the strategic Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources, Ruma was alleged to be the go to man for any top government official desirous of fixing any knotty issue with the president. Also, Dr. Taminu Yakubu from Katsina State like YarAdua and Ruma, Taminu served in the cabinet as the Presidents Chief Economic Adviser. A doctorate degree holder in Economics, Taminu was also a member of the National Economic Management Team (NEMT). There is also Dr. Mansur Muhtar, who held the position of the Minister of Finance. An indigene of Kano, Muhtar was alleged to be one of the closest aides and allies of the late president whose words in the seat of government carry immeasurable weight. The list of the influential kitchen cabinet is not complete without the mention of Mr. Micheal Aondoaka, the Benue State-born former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation. Two other men who had the ears of the late president were his Aide-De-Camp (ADC), Col. Mustapha Onoyiveta, an Infantry army officer from Delta State and Yusuf Tilde, the Chief Security Officer (CSO). Outside government, the man said to be the late presidents closest friend and associate was Alhaji Dahiru Mangal, a wealthy businessman from Katsina State. | https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/01/20/where-are-these-late-president-yaraduas-men/ |
Where is Faysal Harbs? | Kwara socialite disappears from social scene High society pulsates as you read. The gist revolves around the whereabouts of Faysal Harbs. Like shy elves hiding from the travelers eye, Faysal suddenly disappeared from the social radar, hiding out where no one but his close family members know. Harbs had once made Ilorin, the capital city of Kwara State, his oyster. He remains yet a prominent player in the citys economic and social spheres. Not only does he call the shots in the citys social scene, his wife, Chief (Mrs) Jumoke Harbs, is also a famous socialite and a highly regarded woman. Lately, the well-connected dude seems to have little or no interest in social affairs. Faysal, who used to be the rallying point of major social functions in Ilorin, hardly attends social events these days, no matter the status of the people involved. While no one seems to know the reason for his sudden sabbatical from the social scene, rumour has it that Harbs businesses are facing some hard times. Due to this, he is committed to resuscitating his business while staying away from the eyes of the public. Others have, however, countered the rumour, insisting that Fayasal remains financially solid. His wife, however, remains a regular face in social circles. | https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2019/01/20/where-is-faysal-harbs/ |
Are Doctors Always Obligated to Help? | You've heard that doctors and physicians have a duty of care that is owed to their patients. This means they must attempt to provide high-level medical care to those who have entrusted them to do so. It doesn't mean they must always succeed, but it, at least, means they can't be negligent and they should provide the care that a person can reasonably expect from a medical professional. For instance, perhaps a doctor is flying on a plane. In the back of the plane, a man appears to go into cardiac arrest. They won't be able to make an emergency landing for at least 30 minutes, so the case is critical. In short, the answer is no. The doctor can simply turn around and wait for the plane to land. If the man suffers harm or passes away, he and his family members can't sue the doctor if they find out he was on the plane and did nothing. Duty of Care The reason is that the duty of care is not owed to anyone with whom the doctor does not have some type of relationship. While it is owed to patients in a typical medical setting who are actively under the doctor's care, it is not owed to anyone else nearby due to proximity alone. The doctor can create this duty of care, however. If he or she does decide to help that man, and then acts negligently and causes him further harm, the family may be able to sue the doctor based on this negligence. This is why medical professionals are sometimes hesitant to step in. Of course, negligence is still the key. The doctor isn't obligated to save the man, only to provide him with professional care that is free from avoidable errors. If so, be sure you know your options. | https://blog.lawinfo.com/2019/01/16/are-doctors-always-obligated-to-help/ |
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